Heading the School

Suns Golden Ray

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 5
Published: 29/12/2004
Last Updated: 03/01/2005
Status: completed

Seventh year is going to be quite busy for our favorite couple and their friends. They must balance NEWT classes, 2nd level Auror classes, relationships, jealous friends, dangerous classmates, as well as keep their cool in the face of the worst wizard in a century. (Second Book in the LJ Series)

Chapters

1. You're the Only One

2. Whatever You Say

3. Sometimes

4. At the Beginning

5. You've Got a Friend

6. My Baby Loves Me

7. He Loves U Not

8. The Ballad of John and Yoko

9. I Don't Have the Heart

10. Criminal

11. You're Still the One

12. Chapel of Love

13. Fighter

14. When You Really Love A Woman

15. This Gift

16. If Walls Could Talk

17. Going Under

18. I Need You

19. From My Head to My Heart

20. My Funny Valentine

21. Fallen

22. More than Words

23. You Don't Own Me

24. Somewhere I Belong

25. My Immortal

26. Naked

27. Happy Together

1. You're the Only One

SGR's Note: Gosh! I've been nominated for Best New Author and D2M has also been nominated for best JRK non-H/HR novel-length fic (or something like that). I am deeply honored by the nominations and I thank you so much for the compliments.
Now, without further ado, here's the sequel!

"See you're not what I expected,
But you're the only one who knows how to handle me,
And you're such a great kisser,
And I know that you agree."
-You're the Only One, Maria Mena
Chapter One

The curtains were stagnant in the open window. The heat sizzled off of the black asphalt in invisible ribbons. Kids who were forced outside by their parents lay half-dead under shady trees, puddling in the midday sun. The sky was a motionless blue, with no clouds to offer any shade. There was not a breath of wind that moved, nor any other sign of life...

...except for the frenzied groping on the teenaged wizard's bed coming from the two (fully clothed) teenaged witch and wizard. Moaning echoed through the stagnant blinds and anyone who stood under the window could hear the sound of sucking on skin that was coming from the room inside

There, the girl giggled while the boy kissed as much of her skin as she would allow him to. His hands tangled in her hair and they rolled around for a good few minutes, giggling and kissing and doing what lovers do. She reached up and tried to make his unruly jet black hair stay put, but it wasn't working.

"You've been trying that for the past five minutes," he mumbled, nuzzling his face into her neck, kissing and lightly licking. She moaned softly and her body went lax against him, eyes closed and mouth open slightly. While she was distracted, he slipped his fingers under the hem of her shirt.

She said nothing, but took his fingers out from under her shirt and placed them on top.

He made a sound and then started pushing the hem up her back. She broke apart from him, gave him a tired look, and then pushed her shirt hem back to where it was. In response, he kissed her harder, pushed her over on her back and pinned her hands to the top of the bed with one hand. With the other, he rested it lightly on her hip. Of course, when he moved his hand upwards a little, the shirt went with it.

"James! Stop it!" Lily shoved him off of her and sat up. James sighed and hung his head.

"Your hip, Lily," James groaned. "It's not gonna kill you if I touch your hip!"

"James...look..." Lily said, moving to the edge of the desk. "I thought we agreed that we were going to take this slow-"

James groaned. "Yes, slow, I know! But Lily, listen to me," he scooted forwards and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's the beginning of August, right?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"And we've been going together since the beginning of July, correct?" James continued.

"Formally since the 17th, yes."

"So doesn't that mean that we should...you know...keep going in our relationship?"

"What relationship, James?" Lily asked, standing up. "A few snogs and one dinner date? I thought you said you weren't after me for a cheap time!"

"In case you've forgotten, Miss Evans, you and I have been spending quite a deal of time together as of late. The guys are starting to get jealous, especially Sirius."

"But why are we always snogging?"

"Vell, my dear," James said, scooting closer to her. "It iz because I cannot take my hand off of you..." He pulled her close to him and buried his face in her neck again, blowing on it and making her squirm. "But if you vant, my dear, I vill take you out again."

"Y-you don't have to....I'm s-sorry," she giggled, closing her eyes and trying to beat him off, as he was quite tickling her now. "Not quite sure h-how this is supposed to w-work...d-dating and everyt-thing"

"I vill teach you, my dear, using ze tickle method..." he pushed her on the bed and tickled up and down her side, causing her to shriek loudly. Of course, this also alerted those downstairs that they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing.

"All RIGHT!" Thumping echoed up the stairwell. "You came up here FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO to get a BOOK!"

The door burst open and James flew off of Lily, who sat up, flushing. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were standing in the doorway. Peter was looking unsure of interrupting them, Remus was looking exasperated at Sirius, and Sirius was looking irate.

He took one look at them and his irate look turned to one of disgust. "Bloody hell James, it doesn't take fifteen minutes to get her clothes off."

"What Padfoot is trying to say, but failing very untactfully, is that it's almost time to go back, and I think that the two of you need to...adjust yourselves...before we return."

Lily ran a nervous hand through her hair and James' eyes flew to his crotch, but luckily he was wearing loose robes.

"Right, we'll be down in a minute," James said, nodding to Lily.

"Oh no, Prongs, you're coming with us!" Sirius grabbed him by the shoulder. "If we leave you two alone, you'll never come down."

As Sirius pulled him out of the room, James waved sadly to Lily who waved back.

***

"Right now, this afternoon we will be practicing large object Transfigurations from inanimate to animate," Frank said, beaming at them through a pair of horendously large sunglasses. Sirius was standing in-between Lily and James with a big frown on his face, Remus and Peter were on the other side of James, and Emmeline was on the other side of Lily, both with uncomfortable looks on their faces (as it was the middle of August), and the Prewett twins stood next to Peter with sweat pouring down their faces. Out of them all, Frank seemed the only one who wasn't bothered by the immense heat.

"So, break up into partners and-" Before Frank could say another word, Sirius called out "I call James!" and latched onto him, dragging him away by his arms. Remus and Peter (for Remus, it turned out, was the only one patient enough to teach Peter all that he needed to know) followed them, Peter squeaking out questions and Remus patiently answering them. Lily looked towards Emmeline and shrugged, following her. Which left (as always) the Prewett twins to practice with each other.

The sun beat down on each of the four groups as they practiced changing large rocks into various living things. Lily wiped sweat away from her eyes and Transfigured the rock into an elephant.

"I wish there was a tree around here," Emmeline whined, changing the rock when Lily had turned it back into its originals state.

"Well, a tree is living, isn't it?" Lily asked. Emmeline looked at her oddly and then nodded. Lily Transfigured the rock into a giant tree with lots of shade. Emmeline grinned and plopped down at the base of it.

"Lily, you're a genius!!" she grinned, stretching out. "So, what happened at lunch that got Sirius in such a tizzy?"

Lily flushed slightly. "Well, James had to go get a book for Remus and I went up to help him find it...and he started kissing me. Then Sirius got mad because we wasted our entire lunch hour."

"Lily," Emmeline asked, looking over at her. "I thought you told me that you were going to take it slow? I mean, it seems as though whenever you're alone, you can't keep your hands off each other."

Lily cleared her throat. "Well, turns out that Potter is less of an idiot than I originally thought. And....he's a nice kisser. "

"Oh really?" Emmeline said, sitting up and giving her a sneaky look.

Lily sat up a bit and stared at her toes that were poking out of her sandals. "Well, on our first date, you know, a real date, he was the perfect gentleman. Brought me flowers and everything," she flushed at the memory. "And then, he walked me to my door and we chatted for a while on my swing. He started playing with my hair, and twirling it around his finger-"

"Mm...sounds very romantic...your hair really is lovely when you let it go like you've been doing it."

"Well, you can thank James, he's the one who threw out all of my Sleakeasy," Lily said, with a slight frown. "He's so impulsive sometimes."

"So back to the story. He was twirling his hair around his finger...and..?"

"Well, of a sudden, he's kissing me. Now, normally, I would have pulled away, but...I just couldn't, you know?"

"Because he's a good kisser."

"That and...I really wanted to be kissed by him...just something about him now...I don't know...I can't explain it."

"I suppose he's a good boyfriend," Emmeline mused.

"What makes you say that?"

"He's been worshiping you for years, you know," Emmeline said. "I'm just surprised that you're moving so fast after denying him for so long."

"We're not moving fast at all," Lily shifted a bit. "I've made myself clear and he knows it."

"Whatever you say, Lily," Emmeline fanned herself with her hand. "Honestly, it must be at least 90 degrees out here."

"Probably hotter than that," Lily moaned.

"I am not like a bloody moth!"

"Speak of the devil," Emmeline giggled, looking over the hill where Sirius and James were having a small argument.

"Every time she's in the vicinity, you always have to go to her, you're like a moth to the flame."

"Well," James said, spying her and having a very goofy grin spread over his face. "Then it's a really good flame."

"I give up," Sirius sighed, watching James trot over to his little fire. Emmeline was eyeing them, so Lily made him keep his hands to himself. She was very odd about public affection. Meanwhile, Sirius adjusted his robes and sat down next to Emmeline, who was looking quite perturbed at him being so close.

"Having an argument?" Lily asked in that annoying quiet voice that she used with James.

"Just an ickle one," James said, also using that same, private voice.

Sirius made a face as if he was going to yak, which didn't score him any points with Emmeline. However, she brightened considerably when Remus and Peter came into view, hurrying along to get out of the heat and into the shade.

"Here, Remus, you can sit here," Emmeline said, scooting over far enough.

"Are they gone yet?" Remus asked, taking a seat next to her. James and Lily were still using the private voices that drove everyone else up the wall.

"Afraid so," Emmeline said, pulling her knees up against her chest and looking a bit flirtatiously at Remus. "How is it going with you?"

"The spell?" Remus asked, oblivious to the eyelash batting. "Oh, going well enough. I don't think Peter's ready yet, but hopefully I can get him there before the final exam in a few weeks."

"You're such a good friend," she cooed.

"Oi! What is this?!" The Prewett twins had been drawn to the cool tree like everyone else, but were put out to discover that they were the only ones not under it.

"Waaait a minute!" Sirius said, hopping to his feet. He marched over to the twins (who stared at him as if he was crazy, but this was typical Sirius) and scrutinized them.

"What?" The left one said.

"Bloody hell," Sirius said, cocking his head to the side. "The two of you even sweat the same patterns!"

The twins, by now, used to Sirius' futile attempts to tell them apart, said nothing and took their spot on a patch of ground, cool now that it had been out of the sun for so long. The heat was getting to all of them, as they stared, bleary eyed at the sizzling grounds around them. James and Lily were leaning against the tree next to each other, and Lily was halfway asleep, whereas James was too busy being mesmerized by the way her eyes moved to say anything. Remus and Emmeline were trying to transfigure a blade of grass into a cup so that they could conjure some water, and Sirius, realizing that his other two friends were too busy for him, turned to Peter.

"Summer is so boring," he said. "And if there is anything to do, it's too hot to do it."

Peter nodded and continued to look a bit nervous. He knew, like the rest of them, that he wasn't ready to take the exam, nor did he think that he could pass it right now. But he had his friends, and somehow, they always made it through.

"I'm bored, Prongs!" Sirius called, looking over to his friend.

"Well then, why don't you start working on the work I've assigned you," Frank said, behind them. "Break already, troops? I see we've lost our resident mushmakers over there, but let's see if we can't get them up."

With a wave of his wand, the tree transfigured back into a rock and James and Lily fell back with a thump, moaning sleepily and rubbing their eyes.

"Fraaaaaank," James said, putting his glasses back on. "That wasn't cool."

"All right troops-" Frank had started calling them troops once the summer began, he found it quite amusing, the rest of them found it quite lame. "We have two choices, we can either sit out here and puddle, meanwhile tomorrow, we have to do twice as much work, or we can finish up what we have to do for the day and have a regular workload for tomorrow."

"Or how about we just say we did it and do the regular workload tomorrow?" James offered.

Frank was already half into explanation about the next spell they would be practicing.

***

"Mum!" Lily called, closing the door behind her. "I'm home!"

"Oh good, we're picking out bridesmaid dresses!" Mrs. Evans called from the kitchen. Lily walked into the kitchen and balked. The kitchen looked like it had been hosed down with Pepto- Bismol. But that wasn't why she had stopped short, it had looked this pink for the past week. It was Petunia who's face was as pink as the sheets.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, putting her bag in a chair and rushing to her sister's side.

"Vernon HATES the color!" Petunia cried, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "He told me that we h-h-have to buy all new fabric and D-D-Daddy can't a-a-afford it!"

Lily put her hand on her sister's back, comforting. She hated Vernon Dursley, especially after meeting his family a few weeks before. She thought they were classless, rude people, and their son was just as horrid. But her sister apparently loved him, and he apparently loved her back, which is all that Lily could ask for.

"Look, Darling, I'm sure that you're father can work over time, I mean, it's not the end of the world, and we can cut somewhere else-"

"Is it the color that's so terrible?" Lily asked, soothingly, taking out her wand. "Well, I can fix that in a hurry, now Petty. What color does Vernon want?"

"H-H-He said a-a-anything but p-p-pink," Petunia sobbed. Lily grinned and touched her wand to the fabric. From her wand tip sprang a lovely color of violet, not overly killing as the pink was, but just purple enough to not make it white.

"How's that Petty?" Lily asked. Petunia had a face of complete and utter loathing on her face, but Mrs. Evans clapped and picked up the fabric, cooing.

"Now this will make such lovely dresses, won't it?"

"I suppose," Petunia sniffed. Lily stood up and touched the fabric, happily. She knew that the pink color would clash with her red hair, but the violent wouldn't be so bad. Her mother reached an arm around her and hugged her.

"Now that problem is solved, I think I'll start dinner," Mrs. Evans said.

"Mum, I'll make dinner," Lily offered. "You've had a hard day-"

"But you've been at class all day-"

"Don't worry Mum," Lily smiled and waved her wand again. Dinner began assembling itself before their very eyes. Mrs. Evans clapped her hands again and settled in next to Petunia who was scowling even more. Mrs. Evans chose to ignore Petunia, putting the fabric up to Lily's face. "This is going to be so beautiful on you-"

"Mum, why can't Elise be my maid of honor?" Petunia snapped.

"Because it's the nice thing to do," Mrs. Evans shot her a nasty glance. "And you'll be the matron of honor at her wedding. Speaking of which, how is that lovely boyfriend of yours, Lily dear?"

Lily laughed nervously. "Mum, he's not..."

"Well, what is he, then?" Mrs. Evans pressed.

"He's a very good friend," Lily said, nodding.

"So why did I see you snogging him on the front porch last night?" Petunia sneered. Lily flushed three shades of red. "Very good friend, hm?"

"Petunia! Hush!" Mrs. Evans bristled. "Lily, darling, he hasn't been rude to you has he?"

"Oh no, Mum," Lily shook her head. "He's been just perfect, but, I don't know if I can call him my boyfriend yet."

"Lil-" Oliver gasped as he skidded into the kitchen. "Wow!" He ran to go look at the stove where a spoon was currently mixing a pot of gravy. Mr. Evans, dirty from work, followed behind.

"Richard, come over here and see what your daughter did for Petunia today!" Mrs. Evans beamed. Mr. Evans peered over the fabric and nodded approvingly.

"So this means that I don't have to work overtime, huh, Petty!" Mr. Evans said, joyfully. "Where's the mail, Dear?"

"Oh, speaking of mail, Lily, you've received your book list early this year," Mrs. Evans said, handing her a rather stuffed envelope. Lily took it gently in her hands and opened it up, a golden token falling out of it. As she bent down to pick it up, she read the first line of her letter. And promptly banged the top of her forehead on the table in shock.

"Lily, darling, what's the matter!" Mrs. Evans rushed to her side.

"I'm-I'm-I'm-"

"Expelled?" Petunia offered, hopefully.

"I'm Head Girl!" she squealed jumping up from her chair and reading the whole letter aloud. "Dear Miss Evans, it is my pleasure to appoint you the Head Girl for the 1977-1978 school term! With this new position you will have new responsibilities such as tutoring, appointing meetings, blah blah blah..."

"Must not be that important, then," Petunia sniffed.

"I will be meeting you and the Head Boy at school on the evening of September 1st to discuss your duties and answer any questions that you might have. Sincerely, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!!"

"My, a Head Girl in the family!" Mrs. Evans beamed. "And who, do you think, is the Head Boy?"

"Remus Lupin, no doubts," Lily nodded. "He's the perfect example of a model student. Gets top grades, kind, considerate. His friends leave something to be desired, even if James is one of them."

"So you don't think James is going to be Head Boy?" Mrs. Potter asks frowning. "He's such a nice boy."

Lily snorted. "I can assure you, Mum, that James is most certainly not Head Boy."

***

"Bloody hell..." James stuttered, staring at the golden badge in his hand. "MUM! DAD!" He raced downstairs, nearly flattening Sirius while he was at it.

"Merlin's Beard, James, what's wrong!" Mr. Potter cried, running out of his study. His son was as white as a sheet.

"Read this!" he said, shoving the paper under his father's nose. Mr. Potter read it and snorted.

"Naturally, James. I was Head Boy in my year. I don't see why this is such a shock to you."

"But...Dad, I thought Remus would....?"

"Prongs, he told you that he didn't want it," Sirius, brushing the footprints off of his stomach, walked downstairs.

"But...why me?"

"That is an excellent question," Sirius took the paper away from James. "Well, I suppose he picked you because you're the only one who could protect Lily from all of those idiot Slytherins."

"L-Lily?" James stuttered. "You think she's Head Girl?"

"You don't think she is?" Sirius asked, handing him back the letter. "Ask her tomorrow."

"Wow. I'm Head Boy. Padfoot, I'm Head Boy!"

"What is this, James?" Mrs. Potter asked, walking out of the kitchen. "You're Head Boy? Dumbledore must have flipped his lid."

"Mum!" James frowned.

"Oh, come now, Dear," Mr. Potter laughed. "James is perfect for this job, now isn't he?"

"From all of the owls that I've gotten over the years, and all the complaints from all of the parents about how you've hexed their children for no good reason, and from all the times that I've had to come up to the school to sort out your problems, you expect me to believe that you're the perfect model student?"

Both James and Mr. Potter, identical mouths gaping, had nothing to respond to that.

"Not that you haven't improved at all, Darling, but I think that it would have been better placed to another boy who has had exemplary conduct all seven years."

"So you think that Remus would have made a better Head Boy than your own son?" James asked, his giant hazel eyes growing to the size of dinner plates.

"James, you just....don't quite fit the bill," Mrs. Potter smiled thinly. "You've caused too much trouble. And you've never been a Prefect."

"I like how you don't have any confidence in your own son, Mum," James sat down at the table and picked at the table.

"James," Mrs. Potter sat down next to him. "It's not as though I don't have any confidence in you. Merlin knows that I do, and I think that you'll make a great Head Boy, but I don't know if it was fair to the other boys who toed the line all seven years while you and Sirius were off breaking rules. What sort of an example does it set for the younger boys?"

"A fine example!" Mr. Potter broke in. "It goes to show that if people change, they can be rewarded for it!"

Mrs. Potter gave him a look that clearly said �Shut up.'

2. Whatever You Say

"You think I'm always making
Something out of nothing
You say everything's ok
...I know you can hear me
But I don't think you're listening."
-Whatever You Say, Martina McBride

Chapter Two

"WHAT?!" Lily hissed, her jaw dropping to the ground. Peter, Emmeline, Gideon and Fabian all had matching expressions. The eight were standing outside of the classroom that they used, the Transfiguration room. The Auror classes had been going on all summer at the vacant (except for Filch) castle in the Transfiguration room.

Lily was the first one to regain coherent speech."B-But James, I mean you're....how'd you get Head Boy?! But, Dumbledore must be crazy!"

"Why is it that's the first thing people say when I tell them?" James frowned. "I think I'm perfectly chosen for the job."

"Well after your father's pep talk, I should say so," Sirius shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Oh, come now, James, your mother is full of nonsense," he mocked, using James' father's deep voice. "You're an excellent choice for Head Boy, nobody could do it better in your year."

"B-But I thought Remus was a shoe-in!" Emmeline stuttered.

"I didn't want the responsibilities," Remus shrugged, the only one besides Sirius and James that wasn't shocked by the revelation. "But I have a question, though, how on Earth are you going to manage your schedule? You've got Quidditch, and Auror classes, not to mention your NEWT level classes, and your girlfriend-"

"And your mates," Sirius interjected before Lily could say anything.

"I'll figure out a way," James shrugged, throwing his arm around Lily who stood stiffly beside him. Sirius rolled his eyes and kicked the wall behind him.

"Where the hell is Frank?" he sighed. Their instructor was usually early for class, and expected them to be early so that they could start on time. Sirius had been the only one to fight this rule, because he had a stern belief that getting up before eleven in the morning on a summer day was a crime against his youth. It took the combined efforts of Remus, Lily, Emmeline, Frank, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, and a very long talk with Professor Dumbledore, to finally get him to acquiesce to the starting time of 8:30.

"Sorry!" Frank called, bustling down the hall, briefcase in hand and smile on his face. Sirius looked at his watch and then called out to him.

"What kind of an example does it set for your students if you're 15 minutes late?" he lulled. Frank took no notice of him, but unlocked the door and ushered them inside.

"Quiet! Quite please!" he shushed, joyfully. "Sorry that I'm late, but I was caught up in a meeting with Barty Crouch. We were discussing, along with Professor Dumbledore, the schedule for the next year's class. But before I tell you about that, just a reminder that your 1st year test is coming up on the 25th of August."

Peter raised his hand. "What will that be on, again?"

"Everything that you've learned up to this point. Remember, that you cannot pass on to the second year of Auror training unless you make a 90% or higher on your exam. Now, about your exam, Mr. Crouch and Professor Dumbledore have decided that instead of having me off of the field, that you will take a tri-weekly class with the rest of the 2nd year Auror candidates at the Ministry of Magic. Now, while the others in your class will be reviewing over subject matter and learning how to implement them in Auror training, you will be getting extra tutelage in each of your NEWT classes in addition to what your professors will be teaching you. Understand?" "So, basically, we're getting a load of homework every night and then we have to go to a tri- weekly class and get even more homework and still be sane?" Sirius asked.

"Not to mention Quidditch practice," James sighed. "At least I won't have to skip class."

"I can see where your priorities lie, James," Lily shook her head. "We have rounds to do."

"R-Rounds?" James gasped.

"Yes, every night we have to walk around the school and look for trouble-makers, though I daresay that I'll have one-half of them under control."

"When you say, every night, you mean, every night?"

Lily nodded. Frank looked between then oddly. "Why would James have to do rounds?"

"I'm Head Girl and James is Head Boy," Lily smiled. Frank let out a laugh.

"Oh, that's rich, Lily. James? As Head Boy?"

"As much as that sounds like an oxymoron, it's the truth," Sirius sighed. Frank stopped laughing long enough to give James, who was wearing a very serious expression, a hard glance.

"You're not kidding?"

"Am I laughing?" James asked. Frank blinked and then laughed a bit more.

"But, you're the biggest trouble-maker, along with Sirius...why'd he...?" Frank shook his head. "Dumbledore works in mysterious ways. Maybe he thought that if he put you in charge of the school, nobody would dare cross you."

"Or maybe I'm good for the job?" James tried, feeling very put out.

"Yes, maybe that," Frank coughed, not at all convincing.

***

"I don't believe this!" James said, throwing up his hands. "Why doesn't anyone think I can do this job!" The eight of them were sitting in the Three Broomsticks and Madame Rosmerta had walked away twittering after James had told her.

"James, if you're so intent on telling us that you're right for the job, why don't you show us instead? Actions speak louder than words, you know," Remus said.

"Say, Moony, are you going to be all right, you know?" Sirius nudged him. "On the test date?"

"Y-Yes," Remus cast a weary glance around. Mr. Crouch, ever the frank one, had come to one of their classes to observe and had pointedly addressed him as �the werewolf,' thus ending any secrets among the Auror candidates. The Prewett twins sat a little farther away from him, but Emmeline was most sympathetic to him. "The day is the 29th."

"Is anyone else as scared about this test as I am?" Peter squeaked.

"No," James stretched, throwing his arm around Lily. She looked nervously at the other occupants of the table and sat up, trying to be out of his arms. "I'm more relieved that I'll have time to schedule regular practices now."

"And do rounds," Lily reminded him, sitting out of his arm a bit more. "We'll probably start about 10 and end about midnight, think you can handle that?"

"Darling, if I'm with you, I'll stay up all night to do rounds," he grinned. Lily blushed a deep scarlet red and the rest of the table chuckled. Except for Sirius, who glowered.

"Hm..." Remus said, thinking to himself. "I have a feeling this year isn't going to be easy. N.E.W.T. classes, Auror preparatory classes, James, your Quidditch practices, our rounds..."

"But I heard from a 7th year that the do a lot of the things that we did last year in the class," Lily said, thoughtfully. "So I'm guessing that in the 2nd year of Auror training, a lot of it is review and adding onto what we've learned."

"Sounds about right," Remus agreed. While the two were conversing, Sirius tried, in vain, to gain James' attention. But his friend was too involved in staring at his girlfriend to pay him any attention.

"Hey, Lily, do you want to go see a game on Saturday?" James asked, not noticing Sirius at all, who began sputtering in indignation.

"I can't," Lily shook her head. "My brother wants me to stay home and spend time with him."

"Li-ly," James whined. "It's one of the biggest games of the sea-son."

"James, I barely see my brother all year," Lily sighed.

"Well...would he like to come with us?" James asked. Lily laughed and shook her head. Sirius was a very particular shade of red.

"James, he's..." she looked around and leaned closer to him, "he's a Muggle. He doesn't understand Quidditch."

James nudged her and grinned. "You don't know that he's just a Muggle. C'mon, please?"

"I'll have to ask him, he wanted me to practice football with him," Lily eyed him. "Can you get more tickets?"

"The tradition!" Sirius cried. Finally, James turned his head to see him.

"What tradition?" James asked. Remus groaned and Sirius was staring at James as if he had just asked what color the sky was. Without another word, Sirius got up and stormed towards the door.

James watched, speechless, as Sirius left the Three Broomsticks. Lily cleared her throat and pushed away from James a little bit.

"I'm going to pop in at home. Mum wanted to get me to fiddle with the flower color," Lily smiled, standing. James tugged at her, asking silently for a little kiss, but with one look around the table, she shook her head and Disapparated.

James sighed and turned back to the other five at the table and got a glare from Remus.

"What?" James said.

"Do you even care that you're ignoring your best friend?" Remus asked. James smiled nervously, but didn't meet Remus' eyes.

"I am most certainly not ignoring him," James said. "I've got a girlfriend now, Moony. That's what happens."

"Does it?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrow. "You do know why he was so mad?"

"Erm, not really?" James replied, lamely.

"He's always been with you to every Arrow vs. Wasps game since the summer before second year," Remus said, plainly. "It's a tradition between the two of you. Even when he started dating girls, he never brought them to the game. You know that."

"But it's not some floozy, Moony. It's Lily. She's more like another friend than anything!" James defended himself.

"Except that when you get around her, you don't see anyone but her and ignore everyone else," Remus told him, plainly. James laughed disbelievingly but stopped at the look of annoyance on every one else's face.

"Well, not entirely ignore everyone else..."

Remus nodded.

"Well, I mean...Lily's...she's really special to me, and I....well, I'm not perfect, all right!" James spat out.

"No one's asking you to be, Prongs," Remus told him. "Just realize that Lily isn't the only person in the world. Else, one day you may found out that she is."

***

"We're going to a Pidditch game!" Oliver ran around the kitchen, his cereal becoming soggy in milk. Petunia had a rather annoyed look on her face, and finally told him to sit down and eat his cereal.

"It's Quidditch," Lily smiled, as Oliver plopped down in the seat across from her. "James'd go crazy if he heard you besmirching his beloved game."

"So, James is really going with us!" Oliver asked, shoveling soggy cereal into his mouth. Little stars appeared in his eyes.

"Yes, Oliver," Lily shook her head.

"What about Sirius?" he jumped.

"I don't know," Lily sighed. "You'd better hurry up and eat your cereal. He'll be here any minute."

Just then, there was a loud �pop' and James appeared in the middle of the kitchen. Petunia screamed and fell out of her chair from shock. Oliver dropped his spoon and jumped up, his breakfast forgotten.

"James! How'd you do that!? Lily can do that too! Where'd you come from?!" Oliver's questions continued and Lily could see that they made James' head spin. She put her hand on Oliver's shoulders.

"Why don't you run upstairs and brush your teeth?" Lily said, pushing him a bit. Oliver didn't wait two seconds before bolting up the stairs. James laughed and walked over to Lily, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her.

Petunia, righting herself in her chair, cleared her throat loudly. Lily broke apart from James and cleared her throat, walking over to clean up after Oliver.

"So where's Sirius? I hope that you two didn't have too much of a fall-out," Lily said, starting the sink.

"Oh, he'll be here in a few minutes," James sighed, coming up behind her and putting his head on her shoulder. Lily, as usual, responded stiffly, as they were in a semi-public setting. Petunia cleared her throat again and James turned around, giving her a dark look. She sniffed at him and left the kitchen. Lily finished with the dishes, but James wouldn't let her leave the sink. Now that they were alone, she relaxed into his arms.

"Did you ever find our why he was so mad?" Lily asked. James pressed his chin to the side of her face.

"Yeah. Apparently, I'm ignoring him," James said. "In favor of you."

"Well, no offence," Lily said, pulling away from him and looking up at him. "But you are a bit smothering, James."

James looked taken aback and frowned. "But, Lily, I mean....I just...." he blew air out through his closed lips.

Lily grinned and ran her hands through the front of his hair (a particular part of his anatomy that had become more and more attractive to her). "You're so funny, James."

"I wasn't trying to be," James said, looking down.

Lily was about to answer, but there was a loud rumbling outside the window. Lily leaned over and looked out the front window. Her jaw dropped. James followed her eye line and made an annoyed sound.

"What on Earth...?" Just then, Oliver came skidding down the stairs and into the kitchen, stars shining in his eyes.

"Did you see that?! Sirius just rode up here in a big giant motorcycle!" Oliver said, jumping up and down. He ran out the front door to meet Sirius.

"James, why does Sirius have a motorcycle?" Lily asked.

"It's not just a motorcycle," James said, following Oliver . "It flies, too."

"And why does Sirius have a flying motorcycle?"

"Well, he bought it a few weeks ago and has been aching to use it. When I told him that Oliver couldn't Apparate, he jumped at the chance," James smiled, leading her outside. Lily stopped him and put her hand on his chest.

"And who said I was going to trust that man with my brother?" she asked.

"I promise it's safe, Lily," James said. "Besides, he forgot all about why he was mad at me when he found out that he could use his bike, so just go along with it, would ya?"

"So I take it, this is how Oliver is getting to the game?" Lily called to Sirius. Sirius nodded and pulled Oliver in front of him.

"�S the only way to travel, Lily love," Sirius grinned. "We'll get a move on, then, so we'll make it on time." Sirius kicked the stand away from the ground.

"Sirius, that's my baby brother you've got there, I expect you to be extra careful with him," Lily said.

"�Course, Lily," Sirius said, pulling out of the driveway and driving down the street. Lily laughed as they turned a corner out of sight.

"I must be crazy," Lily shook her head, as she turned to go inside with James to Apparate away from prying Muggle eyes.

***

Oliver was speechless as they walked into the stadium. It was drenched on one side with pale blue and on the other side with black. James lead the four of them to sit on the pale blue side, all the while, informing Oliver (because Lily and Sirius wouldn't listen) about the Appleby Arrows.

"�Course my grandfather was on the team in 1932 when they beat the Vrasta Vultures. Played for sixteen days, they did and-"

"James," Lily interrupted, squeezing his hand. "I've never explained Quidditch to Oliver."

James gasped. "Y-You haven't?"

Lily shrugged. "I won't do it justice." James puffed out his chest and clapped Oliver's shoulder.

"Well, as a Seeker, he'll need to know the basics," he nodded. He threw a look back to Sirius who was lagging behind a bit.

"Sirius could you go get us-"

Sirius glared at him and James shrunk back a bit, so he decided on a new course of action. Taking Lily's hand, he kissed it and gave her a charming smile. "And because you won't do the explanation justice, and Sirius needs to stick around to help, and Oliver needs to hear said explanation-"

"What do you want?" Lily asked.

"Go get us a couple of Butterbeers?" he asked, grinning. Lily rolled her eyes and took the money that James handed her. She stayed around long enough to see where they were sitting and then headed over to the pale blue concession stand to get some drinks.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Mudblood Auror-to-be," a poisonous voice said behind her. Lily stiffened visibly and turned around to see a black-haired Slytherin who had graduated two years ago standing in front of her. She knew that his brother was in the year under her, and that his last name was Lestrange.

"Do I know you?" Lily asked, throwing a lock of her hair over her shoulder. Lestrange sniffed.

"Any pureblooded witch would know my name," he said, his voice rolling like honey. Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"And would probably be related to you as well. Inbred, much?"

Lestrange's smirk turned into a sneer. "You had better watch yourself, Mudblood. People aren't happy with what you and your little boyfriend did to my Bella."

Suddenly a light clicked on in Lily's head. This was Bellatrix's boyfriend, she'd seen him visit her in Hogsmeade. She managed to keep her calm and to smile.

"Too bad those �people' don't have what I would call a �worthy' opinion," Lily shrugged. "But as you don't want to clarify exactly who those people are, because that would mean that you were in a league with them, and then you'd be waiting in a dingy holding cell at the Ministry for a trial to go to Azkaban like Bellatrix."

Lestrange said nothing, but Lily could see that she had won the argument. He couldn't, in good faith, reply to that or else he'd risk trouble on either front. Finally deciding that he was done, he turned around and left.

Lily paid for the three drinks and headed back to the stadium, keeping a weather eye out for any other suspicious creatures.

"Thanks Lily," Sirius grinned, taking one of the bottles from her. He was obviously happy that he had gotten a few precious moments with his best friend without Lily. Lily skipped over Oliver and handed James a bottle and kept one for herself. Oliver protested.

"Why can't I have one?"

"You aren't old enough," Lily said, simply. James winked at Oliver and put his arm around Lily. "C'mon, Lily, just a sip?" he pressed. Sirius rolled his eyes and handed Oliver his bottle while Lily was busy fending off James' attempts to kiss her neck.

"Wow!" Oliver gasped, handing it back to Sirius. "I'm all warm now!"

"Sirius!" Lily sighed. James settled into the seat and shrugged. He wanted to put his arm around her, but he was sure that she would react stiffly, as was getting to be quite the case in public.

"Eh, he'll be fine," he said. "See anyone you know on the way?"

Lily's entire body changed and James looked at her concerned. "Yes. I ran into Bellatrix's boyfriend."

Sirius shook his head. "Rodolphus. Smarmy git, that one is."

"What did he say?" James asked, concerned.

"Nothing of real importance," Lily smiled at him. "But is he an Arrow fan?"

James shook his head. "No, no, no. The Wasps are notoriously known for being a pure-blood team. �S why Padfoot likes �em, right Padfoot?"

Sirius glared at James and then looked past him to Lily. "The only reason why I root for them is because I was raised that way, and because it pisses James off."

Lily gave him a stern look and glanced down at Oliver. Sirius covered his mouth and sunk back into his seat.

"Look! Look!" Oliver obviously didn't hear because he was staring at the players that had just come out and were taking off. Lily felt a warmth in her heart as James explained the players to her little brother.

"And those three are Chasers. That's what I'm gonna play," James said. Lily looked at him.

"I thought you were a Seeker?" she asked.

"I'm too big for Hogwarts Seeking now. Besides, we have some openings," he grinned. "Doesn't mean that I can't train this one. Perfect build for a Seeker!" he nodded. Lily pulled him close and whispered softly into his ear.

"James, Oliver...he might not be a wizard. We won't know until next year."

"I'm sure he is, Lily, I mean, I can tell these things," James nodded. "�Sides, he's gotta be one, if only to make Petunia even more jealous."

3. Sometimes

4. At the Beginning

"When I lost hope,
You were there to remind me
This is the start."
- At the Beginning, Richard Marx and Donna Lewis

Chapter Four

James stared at the Hogwarts Express with grim fascination. He had been on it so many times before, but he'd always been just a spectator. Now he was in charge. All of the children around him looked so...young. He was sure that he wasn't this young when he started Hogwarts.

"Prongs, whatcha dreaming about?" Sirius smacked him upside the head. "We gotta load our stuff onto the train."

"Sorry," James apologized. "I was just thinking...were we this young when we started Hogwarts?"

Sirius looked around and nodded. "Yeah, I guess," he took in James' ashen complexion and patted him on the back. "Look, I'm sure you'll be a great Head Boy. Nobody'll cross you because they're too afraid of the rest of us. All the guys look up to us, so respect'll be a breeze."

"I just...Padfoot, I've never done anything like this before. There's so much..."

"Responsibility?" Sirius offered. James nodded. Sirius hoisted his trunk onto the train and sighed. "Look, Prongs, I'm not one to preach about responsibility or anything like that-don't snort, James, it's unbecoming-but I know that you've been able to handle responsibility, though it's been masked as Quidditch."

James shook his head. "That wasn't responsibility, that was...fun."

"Exactly. This Head Boy nonsense can be fun, if you make it."

James nodded and put his trunk beside Sirius'. "I get ya. So if I just think of this as fun, I'll be able to do it?"

"Sure, just think about how you get to work with Lily and you'll be fine."

Together, the two of them hopped on the train and found a spare compartment. Sirius stretched out on one of the seats and sighed when James didn't even sit. He kept his eyes glued on the window, watching the people that seemed so young to him.

"I feel kinda bad for Wormtail," Sirius said, thoughtfully. "He didn't even come to Remus' house the other day."

"I imagine it's a big blow for him," James said, finally sitting down. "His mum was so proud of him and for him to fail it by such a wide margin was probably disconcerting."

"What's he gonna do?" Sirius asked. "I mean, with us busy so many nights of the week, the poor bloke's not gonna know what to do with himself."

"We should get him a girl," James said, thoughtfully. "He'd be good with a Hufflepuff, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah," Sirius sniggered. "Though I don't think that Moony would agree. With me and my girls, Peter and his girl, and you and Lily, well we'd be making so much noise that-"

James blushed and shook his head. "You wouldn't have to worry about us, Padfoot. Lily's not...there yet."

Sirius sat up a bit and cleared his throat. "You've been going out for how many months and you've not gotten any?"

"Didn't you just tell me that she wanted to move slow?" James blanched at him.

"Yeah, I meant, in public. In the bedroom, it's a completely different story. So, how far have you gotten?"

"She said that she's not ready to go anywhere beyond kissing with clothes on."

Sirius blinked and looked as if he hadn't heard what James had said. "You've not even seen her in her knickers yet?"

"Sirius, not every relationship is about sex," James defended. Sirius gave him the once over.

"You're bloody miserable, aren't you?" James let out a large breath of air.

"You don't know the half of it," he sighed. "But the problem is, I don't want to break up with her over that because, most of the time, I have fun with her and I don't want her, you know?" James allowed a goofy grin to spread on his face. "She's so...perfect."

"I take it from the stupid grin on your face that Lily is the chosen topic of conversation?" Remus interrupted, walking inside.

"We're talking about how James hasn't gotten any yet," Sirius explained. Remus looked at James and nodded at him.

"It's about time one of you grew up and saw that a relationship is more than just the physical sense." Sirius' jaw dropped.

"You can't be serious, you too?" he exclaimed. Remus raised his eyebrow and looked around as the train gave a giant lurch.

"Neither of you have seen Peter, have you?" They shook their heads.

"We've been wondering the same thing," James shrugged. The compartment door opened, and, instead of Peter, was Lily, looking quite excited in her school uniform.

"Can I borrow James for an hour or so?"

"Why, you aren't going to go sha-oof!" Sirius' snide remark was cut off by James squarely kicking him in the shin as he got up.

"Remus, you too," Lily said. Sirius glared at James as he sat and rubbed his shin by himself.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked. James laughed it off and shut the door behind him, ignoring that question.

"What do you want, besides my humble presence?" Lily rolled her eyes, but had to smile.

"Prefect's meeting," she said. "We get to orchestrate it, remember?"

"O-Orchestrate it?" James stuttered. "You mean, like we're in charge?"

"James, it'll be fine," Lily soothed, tugging on his hand. "You'll do great, just listen to me and add in anything you think is important."

"It's not that hard," Remus said, coming up beside him. "You just basically tell everyone what they're supposed to do and pick some passwords for the houses and pair up a few people to do some rounds. Usually 5th years."

James perked up. "Can I use �Slytherins Suck' for the-"

"No James," Lily rolled her eyes. "For the time being, you have to be non-partisan."

"Aw shucks," James frowned.

***

"If Dumbledore picked such a Head Boy, I suppose that we're all in trouble," came the first comment from the peanut gallery. To James' dismay, Snape was sitting next to another prefect from Slytherin. James was immediately on the offensive.

"Sorry Sniv-" Lily squeezed his hand ever-so-lightly and James backed down a bit "-Snape, I suppose that you'll just have to settle with me as Head Boy." Snape gave a light sniff as he watched James and Lily assume the position at the front of the table.

Remus gave him a discreet thumbs up from his perch next to Emmeline as Lily began the meeting.

James was amazed at how Lily could conduct the meeting with such efficiency and then keep such a comforting hold on his hand. He spoke up rarely, to crack a joke or two to lighten the mood or to add something that he thought was important. When the meeting was over, James hung around with Lily while she answered some questions of the new prefects and talked over old times with the more experienced prefects.

After all that schmoozing, James lead the way back to the compartment. He found it annoying, however, that people kept coming out of their compartments to ask them if they were going out or not. Apparently, the fact that James was walking down the hall with Lily's hand entwined with his was a hot topic, so it took them 10 minutes to get to the compartment.

"There you are, Pete," James grinned as they walked inside. Peter was looking pale and a little down, but well all the same. "We've missed you."

"James did excellent," Lily smiled to Sirius. "Very, very professional."

"No, honestly, how did he do?" Sirius grinned. James took a shot at his head but he ducked.

***

"No offence, Prongs, but your mum doesn't do justice to the Hogwarts cooking," Sirius grinned, sitting back and rubbing his stomach. James mirrored the act and nodded.

"I'll agree with you there, Padfoot."

"I don't understand how you boys could eat that much," Lily shook her head. "You split that turkey down the middle, along with two helpings of potatoes and gravy, two helpings of vegetables, and three pieces of cake each."

"We're growing, active boys," Sirius defended himself. "You barely ate anything, I'll be you've got some kind of eating disorder or something."

Lily put her fork down and gave Sirius a piercing glare. "I had quite enough thank you very much. Just because I don't pile food on my plate, doesn't mean I'm not eating anything."

"All right, all right, now time for bed," Dumbledore called out to them. James stood up began following Remus and Sirius, but Lily pulled him back.

"We have a meeting with the teachers, now, don't you remember?" she said, tugging him in the direction of a little room off the side of the hall. James frowned, but followed her into the room. He didn't realize that she had let go of his hand until he had stepped into the room and really felt its coldness aching on his hand.

All of the teachers were surveying him and sizing him up, it seemed like. He sat down quickly next to Lily and decided that he was going to keep quiet for fear that they would get some kind of impression one way or another.

"Welcome and Congratulations James and Lily," Dumbledore beamed, sitting down at one end of the table. "I heard you two did exceptional on your first year Auror exam."

James nodded and Lily spoke, "Yes, sir."

"Excellent, excellent. Now, the first order of business are a few reminders..." and he conducted business as usual. James wished that he had a quill and parchment to take notes in because it seemed a lot to understand. The meeting dragged on forever it seemed like, and James' attention span was waning. Finally, Dumbledore dismissed them all except for James and Lily.

"Come down here so we can be a bit closer," Dumbledore beckoned. James sat down on one side of him and Lily sat on the other. "Now, just a few reminders for the two of you. Remember that you are a role model for younger students, so be aware of your actions and words." James saw his eyes dart in his direction for a moment. "Also, know that from time to time, you will be called upon to tutor students, give counseling, so on and so forth. Do your best, and if that doesn't work, ask a professor to step in and assist." His eyes twinkled. "As I can see the two of you are tired of listening to an old man wheeze, off to bed with you."

"Professor, can I talk with you, please?" James asked and Dumbledore nodded. Lily shot him a glance that said �I'll wait outside.' "Well, I was just wondering why you chose me to be Head Boy. I haven't exactly been the �role model' that you're talking about-"

"Ah, but you are, James," Dumbledore said. "Though I'll admit that the troublemaking must come to a veritable end, you've exhibited leadership skills on the Quidditch pitch and with your team. You've always made top marks in all of your classes, and I'm sure that you'll be an excellent tutor."

"But, honestly, wasn't there someone else more suited to be Head Boy? Like Remus?"

"Mr. Lupin specifically requested that he not be Head Boy, Mr. Potter, though I was not considering him. To be Head Boy, or Girl for that matter, it takes a person who has the kindness to assist his fellow student, but also the determination to censure them when they are out of line. As kind as your friend Mr. Lupin is, he would not have had the gusto to stop either you or Mr. Black, which leads me to my final two reasons for picking you." His eyes twinkled. "First, I knew that if I put you in a position of responsibility, you would shape up both yourself and Mr. Black, and second, because no one would have confidence in your abilities, save myself, and your father, you would work that much harder to prove them wrong."

James desperately wanted to have a snappy comeback, but Dumbledore was absolutely correct. He grinned and stood up, shaking Dumbledore's hand.

"Thanks, Professor," he said.

"Off to bed with you James, you've got a busy year ahead of you."

***

"And then he said, �you'll work that much harder to prove them wrong,' and I realized that's true!"

Lily grinned and opened the door to the Common Room. She was not surprised that it was empty, for the Welcoming Feast always put the students to bed early. James hadn't stopped beaming since he had left the little room where he spoke with Dumbledore.

They stopped at the junction between the two dormitories and James put his hand on her face, smiling.

"And the best part about this is, I get to kiss you goodnight whenever I want to," he leaned in and gave her a very small, but very sensual kiss. He got the feeling because she leaned forwards when he leaned back that she didn't want it to end, but, in all honestly, he was tired.

"Night," he opened the door for her and she dazedly walked through it. He bounded up his own stairs and burst into the dormitory, glad that his mates were still awake.

"Why're you so chipper?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm Head Boy, Dumbledore has faith in me, Lily's my girl, and all's right with the world!" he exclaimed, diving into bed. "Aw, this year is going to be great!"

5. You've Got a Friend

6. My Baby Loves Me

7. He Loves U Not

"You'll be giving him an open invitation
But my baby won't be taking it
...No chains to unlock
So free to do what he wants
So into what he's got
He loves me, he loves you not
-He Loves You Not, Dream
Chapter Seven

The only problem with the simmering snogfest he had with Lily, was the simple fact that whenever he saw her, he couldn't help but picture her in her underwear, and that had very unfortunate consequences in certain areas of his anatomy. Which was odd, because he'd seen a girl in her knickers before, but somehow, Lily was an entirely different story. She looked so innocent and inviting and just waiting for him to-

"Mr. Potter, please pay attention!" McGonagall barked. James blinked and sat up straight. That woman had a voice to break the bubble of even the most focused daydreamer. At the moment, she was giving them a bit of an after-class lecture on a tricky spell. With only four of them, she could catch his attention slipping away in a second.

"I was paying attention, Professor," he grinned. "I just appear to have a glazed expression, but, in fact, I am concentrating."

"Well, then, why don't you explain to us what I've been talking about for the last five minutes," she asked, folding her arms in front of her. James opened his mouth and then smiled again, blushing slightly.

"All right, you caught me, I wasn't paying attention," he said. Next to him, Sirius snorted. Professor McGonagall couldn't keep down a smile.

"Class dismissed," she finally said. James stood up to leave, but Professor McGonagall kept him back. "I need to speak with you," she said. James sat back down in his desk and waited for everyone to leave.

"Yes, Professor?" James said.

"James, I do hope that your attention is kept in all of your other classes, lest I think that you've got too much on your plate."

James laughed. "Come now, Professor, this is nothing."

McGonagall raised her eyebrow and cleared her throat. "Then, I suppose you wouldn't mind taking on a bit more then, am I correct?"

"B-But, I'm barely making do as it is!" James stuttered. "You can't add on to-"

"Then I suppose I shall have to tell Professor Dumbledore that you cannot handle the stress of your Head Boy duties, as this is a part of them."

James stopped stuttering and made a face of nonchalance again. If it had to do with Lily, it didn't matter that much. "Oh, in that case, there's no problem."

"I see," McGonagall sniffed. "Well, then, as it has happened, a Ravenclaw 5th year, whether because of the pressure of OWLs or because she has been rusty, is having considerable trouble in Transfiguration. You will tutor her on Friday evenings in the library from 7 until 8."

"No problem," James nodded. "Who is it?"

"Her name is Abbey Fleet," she said. "Now, I hope I don't need to remind you that this is a part of your Head Boy duties and must be taken with extreme seriousness. You are supposed to be a role model to this young lady-"

"Oh my, I hope not." James couldn't resist. "I think Lily would be much better suited, as she is a girl-"

McGonagall gave him a stern look. "That is all, Potter, hurry on to your next class."

***

"James, are you sure that you have the....patience to be a tutor?" Lily asked him at dinner on Friday evening. James threw his hands up into the air and gave her a disbelieving expression.

"First, being Head Boy, now tutoring?! Why don't you ever believe I can do anything!"

"James," Lily put her hand on his arm. "I didn't say I didn't think you could do it. I think that you're one of the best at Transfiguration in our year, maybe even the school. What I meant is that because you're so brilliant at it, that you may not have the patience to teach others what you know." She waited for the comeback, but there was nothing. James was just grinning at her.

"You think I'm brilliant at Transfiguration?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "How do you like your new team?" she asked, changing the subject. Quidditch tryouts had been the previous Tuesday and James had picked a nice group to fill out the slots. Though Lily was sure that he was going to be a bit harsh on the new seeker, a small 4th year girl.

"Next Tuesday, do you want to watch practice?" James asked, hopefully. Lily thought about it for a moment.

"Well, if I don't have homework. Someone needs to make sure you don't bring the new Seeker to tears."

"Hey, I'm just going to use tough love, you know," he defended. "This Seeker's got to live up to my legend."

"Don't get too cocky, James," Lily sighed. "So you're off to tutor, then?"

James looked at his watch and nodded. "Yes, what are you going to do tonight?"

"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "Probably do some studying. Meet you for rounds at 10, then?"

"Of course, that's my favorite part of the day," James said, stretching. He gave Lily a squeeze of the hand (he had figured out the hard way that Lily didn't like public displays of affection in front of the teachers) and then headed towards the library, his old Transfiguration book, Standard Book of Spells Level 5, tucked under his arm. He ducked into the library and looked for an empty table. He was a few minutes early, as he knew that she probably knew who he was, yet he'd never seen her before.

"Well, well, this is a rare occurance."

"Snivellus," James turned around. "Have a problem?"

"I was just leaving," he brushed by James and continued walking. He stopped as if having some kind of internal debate and then turned around. "And you'd best remind your girlfriend that she's not in a position to insult people like Rodolphus Lestrange."

"What?" James said, rushing over to him. "What do you know about that?"

Snape gave him a cold stare. "Nothing." He continued walking and left James concerned and standing in the middle of the library. James turned and plopped down at the table, deep in thought. He didn't notice the gaggle of 5th years appear in the doorway or spy him and dissolve into a giant vat of giggles.

The group of girls moved behind a bookcase directly behind James who's brows were furrowed in concentration. One of them, blonde, blushing, and giggling, broke away and approached the table.

"H-Hi James," she grinned. James looked up and then stood, holding out his hand.

"Are you Abbey, then?" He held out his hand and nodded when she took it, blushing deeply and giggling. He sat down and opened his book, not noticing how close she was until he looked up and she was a foot away from his face. Smiling a bit, he scooted his chair away.

"Now then-"

The girl, who had scooted closer (and was wearing robes that were much too low cut for a 15- year-old), was twirling her hair around her finger. "Call me...Gail," she said, her voice dropping to a low, womanly voice.

"Right, Gail, so what is it that you're having trouble in?" James banged his knee on the corner of the table when he tried to move away from her again. He was getting rather uncomfortable with her proximity and was getting the impression that she really didn't need help in Transfiguration. Especially when she slammed the book shut.

"I don't think that we need to worry about that right now," Gail said, putting her hand on his arm. James, smiling slightly, picked her hand off of his shoulder and back into her lap.

James decided to get something out straight away before rumors started flying. "Listen, Gail, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got a girlfriend."

"She's not much to look at," Gail said, a little put out. "And she obviously doesn't like you."

"What do you mean by that?" James asked.

"Well," Gail shrugged. "I've never seen you kiss her."

James suddenly had a vision of Lily in her knickers and then made a decision. "All right then, I think I've heard enough." He stood up and was going to leave but Gail stopped him.

"Then I'll just tell McGonagall that you're neglecting your Head Boy duties and she'll chuck you out."

James whirled around and glared at her. Either way he was caught: McGonagall probably wouldn't believe that this girl was failing just to get closer to James, and she would most definitely �chuck him out' if he left. "What house are you in again?"

"Ravenclaw," she smiled. James sat back down and glared at her.

"Stupid hat should have put you in Slytherin."

***

"James, isn't that the girl that you tutor?" Lily asked, as she passed a group of 5th years. One of them was glaring at her intensely as she walked hand in hand with James. James turned and then shook his head.

"Yeah."

"Were you rude to her or something?" Lily asked, wondering if maybe she was glaring at James.

"N-No!" He wasn't sure whether or not Lily would be able to understand how the conniving girl had kept him trapped. After some deliberation, he had told McGonagall, but her reaction was as he had suspected; she didn't believe him and told him that if he couldn't handle his duties, that she'd take away his position.

"Then why is she glaring at you?" Lily asked.

"Who knows?" James said, and while Lily wasn't looking, narrowed his eyes at Gail and put his arm around Lily.

***

A week later, James had realized that Gail's persistence was equal to his in his pursuit of Lily, �back in the day.' Except, he was pretty sure that Gail wasn't an unregistered Animagus.

Speaking of that, the full moon was coming in a few weeks. As it was, it happened upon a Friday in September, so James would have to find a way out of tutoring Gail that evening. He had wanted to maybe get Lily to fill in for him, but he didn't trust Gail alone with her; she might tell Lily some lies.

Of course, Gail didn't need Lily alone to start some nasty rumors. James (who never realized that he never had to prove his innocence to Lily) had to fend off everyone else who was concerned that he was cheating on her.

"You can tell us, Mate," Sirius said, the Monday before the full moon. "I mean, staying with one girl is a hard thing. I don't blame you for-"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed. "That's not helping."

"I'm not lying about this!" James said. He cast a hex towards the dummy that they were aiming for. "I would never cheat on Lily. Not after all the crap I had to go through to get her to be my girl in the first place."

"But honestly, I know you. You can't stay with one thing for longer than two weeks," Sirius said.

"If you would like to know, Lily and I have been dating for three months. I'm not about to dump her or anything like that."

"I've figured it out!" Sirius said, snapping his finger. "You're just after some sex, aren't you?"

"What?!" James exclaimed.

"Because Lily's being a prude, you're sexually frustrated."

James gaped at him and Remus clicked his tongue in his cheek. "James, that is quite low of you."

"Will you two get off my back!" James cried. "I'm not having a bloody affair with the girl."

"Then why does everyone think you are?" Remus asked.

James looked around and brought them in close to him. "If you want to know the truth, this chick's got it out for me. The only reason why she's failing Transfiguration is to be alone with me."

"That's the worst lie you've ever come up with," Sirius said. "You're out of practice."

"It's the truth!" James cried.

Remus said nothing, but continued practicing his casting.

***

By the Thursday before the full moon, James was worried that he'd have to just take the consequences and not show up. The rumor mill was still going strong, and even Professor McGonagall seemed like she wanted to say something to him every time she saw him. The only person that had been quiet about it all was Lily.

That was, until Thursday evening rounds.

"James, can we talk about this whole �Gail' rumor?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"S-Sure."

"I just want to let you know that I don't believe it," Lily said. "You know, it probably started because someone saw you in the library and it just went through the rumor mill and became something bigger than it began-"

"Erm...that's not what happened, but if you-"

"What do you mean, �that's not what happened?'" Lily stopped. "What happened?"

"Oh, you won't believe me," James shook his head, walking again. Lily reached for his arm and stopped him.

"You'd be surprised," Lily said.

"Well, I got there the first night and realized that she was only failing to be alone with me."

Lily, to his surprise, smiled. "That's so pathetic, James."

James hung his head.

"To think, a girl would stoop that low to bring her grades into such a matter. And to get a guy that's already got a girlfriend-"

"So, you believe me?" James asked, incredulous.

"Well, of course," Lily said, threading her hand through his. "I mean, with all of the dirty looks I've been getting lately-" James stopped her talking by sweeping her into a giant hug.

"You're the best girl ever."

"James, I don't think that you'd cheat on me. Not after the way you look at me all the time."

"Well, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," James said, causing the expected blush. He suddenly was struck with an idea. "Can I ask a favor of you, then?"

"Sure," Lily said.

"Can you cover for me tomorrow night?" he asked, his eyes darting past her to the almost full moon. Lily followed his eye line and nodded, understandingly.

"Of course, and while I'm at it, why don't I give her a little talk on boyfriends?" James broke out into a grin and picked her up, swinging her around again.

"Do you think that'll stop her?" he asked her, still holding her close. "What are you going to say?"

"I'd better not tell you, lest you won't be able to walk through a door with your big head," Lily teased, breaking away from him and walking a bit ahead of him.

***

During lunch, Lily decided to pop in to see Remus in the hospital wing, before her afternoon classes. He was looking very pale against the sheets and was laying half-awake. She sat down and put her hand on top of his. His eyes opened fully and he smiled weakly at her.

"Good morning, Lily."

"Afternoon, Remus," Lily smiled. "How are you doing?"

"About normally," he nodded. "And you?"

"Well...this whole James and Gail thing is getting a bit out of hand, you know?" Lily laughed. "To think that she'd actually do something as dumb as ruin her grades just to be alone in a library with James-"

"Lily, do you...believe him?" Remus asked, his brows furrowing together.

"Of course," Lily smiled. "Remus, you don't see him when we're alone, he's so....I know that he wouldn't cheat on me. Besides, the little bitch and her friends have been giving me evil looks all week."

Remus' eyes bugged out of his head. "That's amazing. I didn't think that anyone would..."

"I'm going to have a bit of a talk with her tonight," Lily grinned. "Tell her to back off, that he's...." She trailed off.

"He's what?" Remus pressed.

Lily looked like she was deep in thought for a moment. "Remus, when did I start to like him so much? I mean, I'm going to tell this girl to back off because James is mine. When did that happen? When did he become mine? It all happened so fast, you know?"

"It's hard, once you let him into your life, for him not to become a part of it quickly. He's just like that."

"But, Remus, I used to not be able to stand him and now I'm going to fight for him!"

"Things change so quickly if you aren't paying attention," Remus nodded, and it turned into a large yawn. "Oh, excuse me," he said.

"I'd better let you get back to sleep. I'll come by and see you tomorrow, is that all right?"

"That would be lovely," Remus nodded. Lily leaned forwards and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"You be careful tonight, Remus."

"Good luck!" Remus grinned back at her.

***

Lily arrived in the library, looking quite (as she felt it) formidable. She had just kissed James goodbye as he went off to frolic with his friends and was reassured of his devotion to her. She also realized that she was, in fact, a 7th year, which meant that she had seniority over this puny 5th year.

She found her, sitting at a library table, putting on lipstick and kissing into her mirror. Lily slid into the seat and smiled.

"Hello," Lily said. Gail gave her a once over and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I'm your tutor from now on," Lily grinned. "James and I were talking and we both thought it best that I tutor you, as you make him a bit nervous."

Gail's jaw dropped. "But...? Y-You probably forced him to-"

"No, no, no. James came to me first and asked me to tell you to back off, as he'd been trying and you weren't listening."

"You're just scared, because I'm taking him away from you-"

Lily had to laugh. "I assure you, I am very secure in my relationship. I've never doubted James, nor has he ever doubted me," Lily said. In her mind, she was realizing that phrase with shock.

"Sure," Gail said, looking back at her mirror. Lily reached out and grabbed the mirror from her. She now had Gail's full attention.

"Listen up, girlie. James is my boyfriend. And as he has only had the eyes for me for the past three years, I highly doubt that you would have had any chance with him, had there been any chance at all for any other girl. So I suggest that you bring your grades up, because you have not made me very happy, and, as such, I won't be a very kind teacher."

She slammed open the book to make her point known. "Now, what is it you're having trouble in?"

***

"Mr. Potter, I need to speak with you after class," McGonagall said. James came up to her desk, worried that maybe Gail told on him.

"As it has happened, Miss Fleet has become quite adept at Transfiguration in a very short amount of time. She will no longer require tutoring."

"That's a relief," James sighed.

"I have heard a rumor that-"

"You've been teaching for how long and you still listen to rumors?" James asked, grinning. He slipped out of the classroom and spied Lily down the hall.

"Hey Lily!" James called, running down the hall. He caught up with her. "What'dya say to Gail?"

Lily shrugged and put her arm around his waist. "I told her to back off my boyfriend."

James felt a flutter in his chest. "Say that again, would ya?"

"What?" Lily asked.

"Say the part about the boyfriend?"

For once, Lily obliged. "I told her to back off my boyfriend."

8. The Ballad of John and Yoko

"Made a lightening trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said, �She's gone to his head!
They look like two gurus in drag!'"
-The Ballad of John and Yoko, John Lennon and Yoko Onno

Chapter Eight

As both days and nights were filled with class and studying, it isn't a wonder that the days passed quickly. Quidditch season was fast coming upon the school, and house rivalry was getting a tad ugly, as it tended to be at the beginning and the end of the season.

Out of all of the 7th years, James was the most stressed, for he had to juggle the most. Though no matter how busy he was, he always made time to do the special two hours with Lily when they walked around the school, hand in hand, talking.

Sirius had undergone a dramatic change as the weeks passed. He no longer seemed to want to share the limelight in James' eyes with Lily, but seemed, finally, to accept their parting. The change in heart began when he received the notice from his great-aunt that his great-uncle Alphard had left him a surmountable amount of gold in his will. After that, it seemed as though Sirius had found a project to immerse himself in, which had to do with pamphlets. That was all anyone knew about it, though. When James had asked him what he was looking into, Sirius promptly put them away and gave James a grin.

"Just a bit of a project I'm working on," he would always answer, and say nothing more on the subject.

Lily, however, wanted to have a chat with Sirius about James. She was feeling bad that she got to spend so much time with him, and Sirius barely got any. So, she waited for a chance when James was sure not to barge in.

So, early morning before the first Gryffindor Quidditch match, she caught up with Sirius as he was making his way to the pitch. James was working on his team and getting them all pumped up already in the locker room.

"Lily. What can I do for you, Love?" he asked, giving her a charming smile.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"What about?" Sirius asked, putting his arm through hers and guiding her away from the path to the pitch.

"Well, I want to talk to you about James," Lily said.

"Is he being too much of a prat for you now?"

"No, no, he's wonderful, it's not really just about him, but more about him and you," Lily said. "Look, I never wanted to be that kind of girl that snatches the boy away from his mates, and I'm afraid that's happened."

"Lily, that's not your fault, you know," Sirius smiled. "James can be a bit blind sometimes."

"I know, and I'm going to talk to him about it," Lily said. "I don't want to be the Yoko Onno of the Fab Four at Hogwarts."

Sirius gave her a raised eyebrow and Lily shook her head. "Never mind, it's a Muggle thing."

"Lily, I honestly appreciate your concern about this, but I'm not as upset about it anymore. I've realized that we've all got to grow up, and I'm working on my own projects."

"But, you're still mates, right?" Lily asked, feeling horrible.

"Of course we are, Lily," Sirius put his arm around her. "Brothers, almost. And we talk and have our fun in the dorm room, where you don't see. So I don't want you to think that you've totally invaded our territory."

Lily gave him a small smile and he squeezed her to his side a bit. "I just...felt so bad. And I have, for a long time-"

"And that's how I know that you are good for him," Sirius smiled. "Now, would you like to come help me set up the Prongs fan-section?"

"Oh Merlin, you aren't going to put that bloody awful thing up again, are you?" Lily rolled her eyes. Sirius looked aghast.

"Of course, Lily, it's tradition and good luck. �Sides, Prongs needs to know where to smile when he scores his goals." Sirius lead her to a door on the side of the Gryffindor locker house and unlocked it with his wand. "Honestly, I don't know why he didn't start out as a Chaser, you know? I mean, it's so much more his style."

"He was quite a scrawny thing when he first joined, though," Lily said, thoughtfully, peering into the dark room. A giant roll of parchment was thrown into Lily's hands and she almost buckled under the weight.

"True," came the voice from inside. "He's filled out a bunch, even so. Poor bloke had to work out every day for the past three years to get half the muscle I've got."

"If there's one thing that's never going to change, it's how much you two brag," Lily laughed. Sirius came out of the door, a little dusty, and holding more �fan club' decorations.

"Lily, when you've got as much as we do, it's hard not to brag. You should hear him go on and on about you."

This caused Lily to blush. "He talks about me?"

"All the bloody time," Sirius said. "You know, he's so tickled that you're his girl." He paused. "You are his girl, aren't you? Because a few weeks ago, you were squeamish about it-"

"I suppose, I am," Lily said. "I just didn't know....it's my first real relationship. I'm not quite sure what exactly to do."

"You've certainly warmed up a bit; telling that 5th year to �back off,' and all."

"Oh honestly, he still isn't on about that!?" Lily said, exasperated. "For a week and a half, all I heard is �tell me what you told her.' Finally, I had to tell him that if he asked me one more time, I'd have to hex him."

"Yes, but I've had to deal with it for a bloody month," Sirius grinned at her as they headed up the stairs to the pitch. "By the way, nice jacket."

Lily looked down at the blue jacket and grinned. "He doesn't know I have it, I don't think."

"Lily?!" Sirius stopped and whirled around. "When did you pilfer this item?"

"Last night, while he was at practice," she blushed. "There's no alarm on the boy's stairs."

"And why, may I ask, did you want Prongs' jacket?"

"If I have one vice, I like to wear men's clothing," Lily admitted. "I steal my father's jumpers all the time."

Sirius shook his head and continued walking, coming up to the top of the stand. "I must say, I find that incredibly sexy, you know?"

Lily cleared her throat and put the giant parchment down next to Sirius' pile. "Mr. Black, I don't think I can allow that kind of statement from you."

"Only one bloke gets to call you sexy, eh?" Sirius teased. "Has he even used his privilege?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he has," Lily grinned, taking out her wand and stringing up the giant parchment that had a crudely drawn picture of James on it. "But I don't see how it's any of your business."

"As a matter of fact, Miss Prissy, I already knew that answer," Sirius stepped back and watched her string up the parchment. "Because, as I said, he brags about you. And bragging entitles telling all about snogs and gropes and such-"

He didn't finish because Lily had rounded on him and given him a hard punch in the shoulder. "Sirius! I can't believe you!"

"Lily, it's a mate thing," Sirius said, rubbing his arm. "He tells me all about his, I tell him all about mine. Moony, Merlin save him, if he ever gets a girl, will do the same, and Pete....well, Pete just-why are you smiling like that when I say �Moony'?"

"No reason," Lily grinned, looking at the parchment, which showed James as a Seeker. "We've got to change this, now, don't we?"

"Lily, you know something about Moony?" Sirius grabbed her shoulders so that she was facing him.

"Come now, Sirius, no need to get rough," Lily said, lightly taking his hands off of her shoulders. "I do happen to know of someone that has a crush on our young Mr. Lupin."

"Who!?" Sirius gasped. Lily turned her head slowly to look at him.

"You do realize that you just sounded like a fifteen year old gossip queen, right?"

"I don't care, who is it?" Sirius asked.

"Now, strictly speaking, this is top secret estrogen information, but, I have it on good authority that a certain Auror trainee fancies Remus-"

"Which one?" Sirius thought, then realization and denial came at the same time. "Not Emmeline- "

Lily whistled and changed the Seeker-James to Chaser-James. Sirius sat down on a bench and had a good laugh.

"Though I wanted someone a bit more outgoing for Moony, as he's such a quiet one, Emmeline may be a good match. And she's ok with the little �problem?'"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Problem? She's always on about how it probably makes him a more aggressive lover and-why are you laughing!"

"The words �Moony,' �aggressive,' and �lover' should never be used in one sentence around me ever again," he guffawed. Lily rolled her eyes and continued to fiddle with the decorations.

***

After the game (an astounding Gryffindor victory over Hufflepuff), Lily was swept up in James' jubilant arms when she came onto the pitch. She cast a look over to Sirius, but he had just given her a thumbs up and stayed out of the fray. The look on his face, the acceptance of his lost place to her, made all of her happiness disappear and, even though Sirius said that they were ok, so she decided to have a chat with James about it that evening.

As it was, the party was too raucous and crazy for them to have a conversation without being interrupted. James was the popular one of the party, for he was as good of a Chaser as he was a Seeker, and people kept coming back to congratulate him. Finally, Lily asked if they could seek sanctuary in his room so that they could have a nice talk.

While no one was looking, they snuck up the stairs and into the 7th year boy's dormitory. Lily, having been there once before, sat down on his bed and beckoned him to sit down next to her.

"Can I grab a quick shower first?" James asked. Lily nodded and watched him, amused, grab some clothes out of a pile and a crumpled towel off of the floor. She wondered if the House Elves ever came in here, as it was such a mess.

Realizing her opportunity, Lily decided to raid James' trunk for t-shirts and whatnot that could double for pajamas. Her dormmates were always wondering why she never had any of his clothing (the jacket was a quite recent acquisition) and now was her chance to grab a few well- worn shirts.

"What are you doing, Lily?" James asked, coming out of the bathroom in those damn Snitch shorts and no shirt. The words sounded more muffled because he had a toothbrush stuck in his mouth. Lily turned around, like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and grinned.

"Just looking," she said. James rolled his eyes and went back into the bathroom. Lily continued to inspect shirts, but this time, she smelled them to see if they carried his scent that she couldn't seem to get enough of.

"C'mon, I'm am 18 year old boy, Lily. I'm not a neat-freak!" James whined from the bathroom.

"I'm not checking for that," Lily said, finally picking one (a very weathered Arrows shirt) that held his scent the most. She ran and stuffed it into her bag and sat back on the bed as he came back out of the bathroom.

"Why are you going through my clothes, then?"

"No reason," she smiled. He leaned in to kiss her, as that's why he thought they were coming up here. Lily however, remembering why they had snuck up here in the first place, broke apart from him.

"We need to have a little chat," Lily smiled. James, instead of sitting next to her, laid his head down in her lap and put her hand in his hair. Lily, a little nervous at his proximity, obliged and began stroking his hair.

"What about, Love?" James asked.

"Sirius," Lily said. "James, I'm...concerned that I'm coming between the two of you, or that you're paying more attention to me than him."

James opened his eyes and sighed. "Am I being too smothering again?"

"No, it's just...I feel bad that I get to see you more than he does," Lily said. "Have you two talked about this at all?"

James sat up and took her into his arms, putting his head on her shoulders. "First of all, we live together. It's not as if we never see each other anymore. But, still, we all had a chat about our growing apartness."

"And?" Lily said.

"And I admitted that I had been a bit bad in the friend department and he admitted that he had been a bit jealous, and we came to an agreement."

"Which is?"

"Well," James shifted and put his head next to hers, kissing her ear. "I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He kissed lower onto her neck and Lily protested. James pushed her robes down from her shoulder and nipped the skin there.

"Did you have a talk today or something?" James asked.

"Yes," Lily said. "Before the game, when we were setting up your fan-section."

"What else did you talk about?" he said, in-between bites of her shoulder.

"The girl that fancies Remus," Lily grinned. James' head sprung up so fast that it made his head spin.

"Who?"

"I'd tell you," Lily kissed his nose. "But then I'd have to kill you."

"You and your comebacks," James grinned, running his hands through her hair. Before he kissed her again, he turned his head away in a giant yawn. Lily snuggled into his arms and smiled at him.

"Tired?"

"A bit, but I'm up for a good snog, if you are."

To be truthful, Lily was left a bit wanting after their last "session," and that had been a few weeks ago. She rarely got James completely alone like this, so, she picked up her wand and closed the curtains around James' bed.

"Promise that you'll stop when I tell you to?" Lily asked.

James nodded and nudged his nose against hers. "Don't I always?"

"You're so good to me," Lily smiled, putting her hands on his face and bringing him close.

***

"All right, time to congratulate the winner with a few swigs of Firewhiskey!" Sirius opened the door to the dorm with two big bottles. James' curtains were still drawn, which surprised Sirius, because James usually wasn't tired after a game. Then again, James had worked pretty hard scoring all of those goals. Sirius crept over, intent on waking up his friend with a bang, and threw open the curtains.

"Oh, this is interesting," he said, taken aback. Lily and James were fast asleep and snuggled in each other's arms. Sirius, ever-the-hopeful-one-that-James-would-finally-get-laid, was upset to see that they were just laying together, fully clothed. He sighed and put the Firewhiskey on his own bed. Reaching under the two of them, he pulled out the blankets and covered them up, tucking them in together.

"You two do realize that for this, I'm going to rib you horribly tomorrow morning, right?" he huffed as he covered them. "Sleep well, snoggers."

He walked towards his bed and picked up the two bottles of Firewhiskey. "Oh Remus! Where for art thou, Werepuppy...."

9. I Don't Have the Heart

10. Criminal

11. You're Still the One

12. Chapel of Love

"Going to the chapel
And we're going to get married
Gee, I really love him
And we're going to get married
Going to the chapel of love."
-Chapel of Love, Bette Midler
Chapter Twelve

"I'm bloody bored!" Sirius cried.

"Whenever you utter those three words, first years quake in their boots," Remus replied, nonchalantly, turning a page in the book he was reading.

"Stuff it, Moony, I really am. Without Prongs here, there's bloody nothing to do!"

"Hungry?"

"No, the House Elves actually told me to stop eating their food."

"Go find a girl, then-"

"I'm not after female companionship right now."

"Why don't you go find Pete?"

"Bah, Pete's boring, you're busy, and I'm bo-o-o-ored," he whined, rolling over on his stomach. "I wish I could...." he trailed off.

"Wish you could what?"

"I'll be right back, Moony," Sirius said, a familiar mischievous glint in his eyes.

***

On the morning of the wedding, James and Lily found the old saying "out of sight, out of mind" to work fine for them. While Petunia ran around the house screaming like a chicken with her head cut off because she didn't have the right color nail polish or because she couldn't find her right hair clip or her dress wasn't fluffing enough, the two swung quietly on the swing on the front porch, watching the morning.

"I didn't know that so much went into a wedding," James said, gently rocking them back and forth with the ball of his foot. Lily had put both of her feet in his lap and he was massaging them gently.

"I knew that there was a fair amount, but I think Petunia's just trying to show off for her new in- laws."

"Why?" James asked.

"They're not exactly rich, but they're richer than we are. I think she's trying to prove to them that she's a girl born in the wrong family or something."

"That's the truth," James snorted. "So, what do you see for your wedding?"

Lily looked down at him and shrugged. "I want it to be traditional. Big, giant, fluffy dress. Beautiful bouquet. My dad walking me down the aisle, and my mum helping me with my dress. Oliver can be the ring-bearer and Petty my maid of honor."

"You actually want her in your wedding?" James asked, running his hand over her feet soothingly.

"Well, my mum wanted me to be in hers and visa versa," Lily explained. "What about you?"

"I've only got two things I want to contribute," James said. "First, Sirius is my best man."

Lily nodded, "I could have guessed that one."

"And second, I want the colors to be silver and blue."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"They're Arrows colors of course."

Lily stared at him, incredulous. Then she began laughing. "I think you'll have a bit of trouble convincing your wife of that."

"What? She could have silver bridesmaid dresses and I could have powder blue groomsmen robes-"

Now Lily was laughing hard. "Do you have any idea how horrible that would be?"

James' eyes narrowed. "No. I think it would be great-"

But Lily's laughing had attracted the attention of her mother and she came outside, looking quite harassed. She scolded them both for not being dressed and lazing about, and hassled them inside the house.

***

James tugged at his trousers' waistband. He had worn muggle clothing before, but never some so...uncomfortable. His mum had bought and sent along some that would be proper for the wedding; black slacks and a light blue dress shirt. The pants were so tight though, especially around his bum, but when he walked outside and saw what everyone else was wearing, he realized that it must have been the style. Though, Vernon's relatives didn't quite look as good in their pants as he did in his.

"James, good, you're ready to go," Mrs. Evans put her hand on his shoulder and shoved him towards a group of four large boys. As he came closer to them, he realized that there was a woman and three men, and as he came even closer, he saw a pink bow decorating both of the boy's hair. So, unless the muggles were a bit poufish, there were three females and one male.

"Hi," he said, politely. The four turned their beady little eyes on him and seemed to be sizing him up. Or, more accurately, sizing him down, as five of James could fit in one of them.

"I suppose we have to take you to the church?" The father said, huffingly, instantly forgetting about James. The four giants and James made their way down the road full of parked cars. Then the father began to complain about James to his wife. "Why can't he find his own transportation?"

"Honestly, this entire week has been a complete waste of time," The mother said, angrily. "Vernon should have married closer to his station."

James felt his blood boil, but he said nothing. Lily had promised him snogs beyond his wildest imagination if he was a good boy. It was getting increasingly hard as the two continued to complain loudly, when they all squashed into the car. The two girls took up all of the backseat, so James squeezed into the tiny little spot left and put on his seatbelt.

"Honestly, we should have stayed in a hotel, we would have had better service," The father kept saying.

"Hear, hear!"

The angry feeling in James' chest soon turned to one of sickened fear as the father turned on the car and nearly missed a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk and careened down the road. Now, being as Remus' dad was a muggle-born, James had ridden in a car before, around Oxford, but he was fairly sure that Mr. Lupin had his driver's license. Now, the man who had already run five red lights, and acting as calm as a lake in spring, James wasn't so sure that he even took a driver's test.

"Damn, I missed the turn-off," he swore, screeching to a halt, and nearly causing three cars to rear-end each other, and then he pulled into a turning lane. Now, James didn't know muggle driving laws all that well, but he did live in an all-muggle town, and he knew what a U-Turn was. And he also could read quite well, and could see that the sign above the light said "No U-Turn." So he decided to speak up. Leaning forwards, he tapped the man on his porky shoulder.

"Um...excuse me, but I do believe that says no U-AACK!" The man stepped on the gas and swerved around to complete a U-Turn, much to the honking annoyance of the other cars in the area.

"You say something boy?" The father asked. James was still trying to unstick himself from the side of the window.

Once the car had screeched to a halt, James kept an eye out for any normal-sized people, because that would signify that they were Lily's family. But all he could see were giant people with mustaches. And as James had learned early on in the week, just because a person had a mustache, didn't mean that they were a man.

Before he could look around to see if Lily had arrived as well, he was muscled inside the church and into one of the pews, draped with a color that, in itself, was beautiful, but was distastefully draped from anything that stood still, and it overwhelmed the tiny church. He sat down on the pew.

"Bunch up down there," came an old and wraspy voice down the pew. James scooted down a bit more, so that he was sitting next to the edge of the pew and watched in fascination as the parade of overly-large people continued. They kept pushing him down until he was sure the wooden edge of the pew was going to leave a permanent indentation in his side.

And there he sat. Scrunched between a girl and a piece of wood, and as James found out, the wood was more of a conversationalist

"So, where are you from?"

The girl turned her head, which seemed to be continuous with her thick neck, and stared at him, as if she dared him to speak again. James gave her a nervous smile and then turned to watch the happenings up front, which consisted of a few people milling around and talking to each other.

Time seemed to drag on forever, and finally James heard the tuning of the piano player up front. The guests took their seats and James got his first glance at Oliver, walking in front of two pig- faced girls who were dropping purple petals in front of them. When he was up front, James finally caught his eye. He gave him a thumbs up and nearly lost the rings in the process.

No one was watching because there was a procession of bridesmaids coming up the walk, some thin, boney girls (obviously Petty's friends), and some larger girls (obviously Vernon's relatives, all on the arm of big beefy men. It was curious that with every man that came out, the next one seemed even bigger than he was. James wondered if Vernon had done that on purpose; just to keep everything in order.

After a few minutes, James was getting annoyed at just how many of these couples there were. He finally saw Vernon's horrible sister Marge (who had yet to give them a moment's peace ever since she began staying in Lily's room), and hoped that Lily wasn't too far behind, as his neck was starting to crick. There was one, sallow-looking woman hooked on the arm of a man three times her size, and then, James finally got his eye-candy.

In his own humble opinion, the girl that walked out of that door way (nevermind the giant man beside her) was the most beautiful up there. The way she seemed to stand out among everyone (even more than her sister who came out just after her) and her smile seemed the most genuine out of them all.

She caught his eye right away and grinned even larger. She came just by him and snuck out her hand to hold his for a brief instant before moving along. But it was all James needed to be sated for the moment.

Lily stood next to the minister and watched her sister and father approach the stairs. There was a bit of to-do with her father, Petunia, and Vernon and then Lily's father went to join his wife, a complete wreck on the first row.

Because James was doing his favorite pastime (watching Lily) the service went by with rapid speed. He only realized that it was over when Lily began to leave the church behind Petunia and by that time, he'd lost the family he was supposed to be riding back in.

Which really didn't bother James in the first place, because he could just Apparate back home anytime he wanted to. But first, he wanted to find Lily, as she owed him the snog of a lifetime. So he searched the church, which was quite easier once all of the fat people had taken their cars and left. Unfortunately, he also found that Lily was gone with all of those fat people, so he Apparated to her shower.

When he reached the backyard, he frowned because Lily was already up at the front of the table and there was some more ceremony going on. Not ready to sit down for another three hours, James wandered around the backyard for a bit, trying to blend in.

The night before, Lily had charmed the yard to be bigger than it was, so as to accommodate all of the people. Oliver had helped by streaming crepe paper along little poles (on James' broom, which he was handling better than James had expected). James smirked when he heard comments on how much bigger the yard looked.

While Petunia, beaming and looking happy for once in her life, and Vernon, apparently having a bit much to drink already, as his cheeks were rosy and his movements were sluggish, went through their ceremonies, happily, James walked the perimeter of the yard like a caged tiger. He was really waiting to see what Lily's definition of a "snog of a lifetime" was.

Unfortunately, it was some time later when he actually got a chance to talk to her. There was so much pomp and circumstance, even at the reception. James wove his way up to Lily, who was enjoying a slice of cake, and snuck up behind her to kiss her on the cheek. She turned around and grinned at him.

"I wondered where you had run off to, James," she grinned, her eyes not leaving him as he sat down on the seat across from her. "How'd you like the wedding?"

"Bah, boring," he said, reaching forward and taking her hand in his. "You look absolutely beautiful, Lily."

"The color is fine, but the cut is horrible. I look so fat," Lily frowned, flittering with it. "I think Petunia wanted to make sure that even if the color looked good on me, the dress itself wouldn't."

James was staring at her, oddly. "I thought you looked beautiful in it. Not at all fat."

She gave him an appreciative smile. "Really?"

"Compared to the rest of the cows here? No way. You aren't even chubby to begin with."

Leaning forward, she said, "You know, you say just the right thing sometime," before giving him a gentle kiss.

"I'm only telling you the truth, Lily," James said, confused, but not about to refuse a kiss. In fact, he brought his hand up to hold her cheek and wouldn't let her break it off until she removed his hand from her face.

"Not in front of all these people," Lily whispered. "They already think I'm a scarlet woman."

James sighed and stood up, tugging at her hand. "You still owe me a really good snog after what I had to go through."

She gave him a wry half-smile. "Funny how you can forget your homework, but you don't forget things like that."

"Homework's not important," he said, walking her towards the inside of the house. As the house was empty, James wasted no time in kissing her as they ascended the stairs, and she didn't refuse it, in fact, kept her hand out to guide them along the wall. They were so involved in their mad snogging that they didn't notice the black dog following only three feet away from them.

Lily opened a door and they spilled into her room, nearly falling on the floor. James put his hands around Lily's waist and lifted her off the floor. She put her arms on his shoulders to assist, and leaned her head down to kiss him, as he walked her over to her bed.

Laying her down none-so-gently, James never broke off their rhythmic movements as he climbed on with her. They barely noticed anything else, until the black dog jumped up on the bed and broke them apart, licking James' face with its big tongue. James opened his eyes and began spitting disgustedly.

"AW! GEROFF PADFOOT!" James cried, shoving the dog off (but not Lily). The dog rolled on the ground after impact and turned into Sirius, laughing his little heart out.

"That was priceless Prongs!" Sirius guffawed, sitting up. "My, my, aren't we hot and horny this afternoon?" He said, eyes filled with mirth and staring at the two of them who were flushing.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked, finally, trying to take the attention off of her and James.

"I missed Prongs," Sirius grinned. "�Sides Moony and Wormtail are being too boring. I needed some action. And obviously, you two seem to be having a lot of action."

James snorted and pulled Lily into his arms, embarrassment worn off for him. "She's had a bloody cow in her room all week, I've barely gotten to see her."

"Aw, should I leave you two alone then?" Sirius grinned. "Perhaps cause some mischief-"

"No, Sirius," Lily pleaded. "Please, it's my sister's wedding. Be nice."

"All right, all right, I'll just cause havoc at your wedding," Sirius grinned.

"With the silver bridesmaid dresses and blue robes," Lily snorted, looking up at James. Sirius frowned.

"So you've already started planning your wedding? And here I wanted some say in it!"

Lily turned her head to look at him, her brows knitting together. "You mean, as in James-and-my wedding?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, ignoring the �shut-up!' looks he was getting from James. "You two are going to get married, aren't you?"

"I don't...I mean, we're only 17-" Lily stammered, suddenly coming out of his arms.

"I'm just kidding with you," Sirius said, laying off a bit. "So, where's this kid you've been telling me about?"

"Oliver?" James shrugged. "Who knows? Probably out back."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Well....it's one of my projects, you know. I want to see if he'll qualify for it."

"Oh no you don't Sirius Black," Lily glared at him. "Leave him alone!"

"So James gets to turn him into a Quidditch player and I can't touch him?" Sirius pouted.

"There's a difference," Lily said.

"What's that? James is going to be his brother-in-law?"

"No," Lily's eyes narrowed. "A Quidditch player is more respectable than a troublemaker. And don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."

"Troublemaker?" Sirius laughed. "Now, why on Earth would you think I would make your brother into a troublemaker?"

"Because, I know you," Lily said.

Sirius stood up, mocking offence. "Well, I can see that I'm not wanted around here. Let me go find company which is more accepting of me."

"Stay away from Oliver, Sirius," Lily called as he transformed into a dog and walked down the stairs. She looked up at James. "You don't think he'll cause any permanent damage to the guests, do you?"

A loud, shrill, scream came from the other side of the house.

"Probably," James nodded, kissing her on the nose and sighing. "Well, I'm out of the mood now."

"Me too," Lily said, quietly. "Shall we go downstairs and see what Sirius is doing?"

"Nah, let's just stay up here where girls don't have mustaches." He stretched out on the bed and motioned for her to come join him on the ground.

Lily giggled and laid down next to him, smiling contently.

13. Fighter

"It makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter."
-Fighter, Christina Aguilera
Chapter Thirteen

It was the week before the end of the term when Sirius announced the first of his projects. Needless to say, it left James speechless.

"Y-Y-You're moving out!" he cried, causing heads in the Common Room to look up. "But, I thought...you liked it at my house!"

"I do, Prongs, and nobody cooks like your mum," he paused for a moment. "Except the house elves. But I'm 17 now and ready to move on with my life. You know? And when Uncle Algie died and left me all that gold, I figured, it was time to start looking at new places-James, stop pouting."

"Can I move in with you?" James whined. Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"D'ya reckon your mum would want you to move out prematurely?" he said, putting his feet up on the ottoman. "�Sides, it's not like I'm buying a place or anything yet. I'm going to rent it for a few weeks and then, when school starts, I'll move out again."

"But why now? Why not wait until we leave school?"

Sirius sighed. "Because....look, I've got my reasons. And it's not as if you can't come over all the time or anything. I've even got a spare bedroom."

"I have a question," Remus interrupted, looking at the two of them. "How did you choose the flat to rent? When did you go out and look at it?"

Sirius grinned. "I just happened to leave a little earlier for Auror classes than anyone else, and spend my time looking at flats."

Remus nodded and went back to his studying. James was still a bit put-out.

"Look on the bright side, Prongs, you can snog Lily anytime you want and I won't be around to bug you about it."

James rolled his eyes and sat back. "I suppose that is one good thing. Hey, by the way, one more Moody filing session and then we're done."

Sirius nodded. "Thank Merlin. If I have to write one more thing for that guy, I'm going to pluck my eyes out with my quill."

"That was vivid," James stared at him.

"Thanks."

***
<
"Boys!" Moody barked. Even though they'd been getting the same greeting for the past 6 weeks, they were still not used to it. Moody came into the office, not dressed in his usual robes, but in something that was more adept for traveling. He also had a slightly more demented than usual grin on his face.

"More filing?" Sirius groaned.

"No, no, no, boys, I've got a treat for you today."

James gave him a sideways glance. �Last time you said that, you made us go get you coffee."

"Ah, well this is an extra-special treat."

"And when you said that, you made us gopher a Danish," Remus reminded him.

"QUIET!" Moody barked, causing them to jump again. "I've got a treat for you and if you give me lip, I won't give it to you! Now, can all three of you fit into this?" He threw a silvery cloak at James. The three of them looked at it and started chuckling.

"Not since fourth year, Moody," James chuckled.

"But Pete's not with us, and he usually takes up the most space," Sirius thought.

"True, I'll bet if we scrunch together-"

"QUIET!" Moody barked again. "I'm not going to ask what that is all about because I probably don't want to know."

"No, you don't-"

"QUIET!" he yelled, walking through the door. "Follow me, we're going to a stakeout."

They were still for a moment and then scrambled out after him, wide-eyed.

"Y-You mean, a real stake-out?" James said, nearly stumbling over himself. Moody grunted.

"As in, Death Eaters and such?"

"Probably not," Moody said, opening the doors. "We've gotten a tip that there's going to be an attack at the Head of the Ministry's International Cooperation's house. So we're going to wait for a while."

"And what are we going to do?" Sirius asked. Moody stopped and glared at them.

"You're going to shut up and pretend you're not there under that cloak. This isn't kid stuff anymore, Black, you could get yourself killed without the proper training."

Sirius looked at him and then cracked a wry smile. "So I can't say hey to some of my family?"

Moody snorted. "More than likely, there'll be some of your family, if they even come."

"What do you mean?" Remus asks.

"There's no guarantee that they'll even show up," Moody said, as they came into the elevator. "If you want my personal opinion, they're a bunch of chickens that hide in masks."

"What a coincidence, that's my opinion of them, too," Sirius snorted.

***

"I'm bloody bored," Sirius sighed quietly.

"You've mentioned that," Remus replied, irritably. They were sitting inside of the house of the man's house, up in the attic, looking out the window, under the Invisibility Cloak. When they had arrived, it was mid-afternoon, but now it was past nine and they were stuck. They were sure that Moody had told Dumbledore where they were going to be, because they couldn't leave for fear of alerting anyone to anything suspicious. Their Auror instructor was sitting outside, the only visible Auror, watching the dark street carefully. The others were either under Disillusionment charms or hidden in rooms upstairs. Three Aurors were sitting in the living room, under a Polyjuice potion as the Head of International Cooporation, his wife, and their 9-year-old daughter.

James spied Marlene McKinnon peeking down the stairs and wondered if Lily was around. He'd feel better if she was next to him, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. He sat back as much as he could, because of the Invisibility Cloak and the limited space underneath.

"Look, there's something moving out there," Remus whispered, moving closer to the window.

"I can't see it," Sirius whispered back. Remus' eyes squinted and he pointed at a dark spot.

"There," he , pointing again. Sirius still can't see it and neither can James. Remus sighs. "Try changing."

Sirius changed into his dog form and slipped out of the cloak. He gave a little shake and popped his paws up on the windowsill. He growled in agreement and nudged the bottom of the windowsill, asking them to open it a bit so he could get a whiff.

James lifted the window open a hair and Sirius got a whiff of the air outside. He got back under the cloak and transformed back, a scowl on his face.

"I smell pureblooded trash, is what I smell," he frowned. "They're here."

"D'ya think Moody knows?" Remus asked.

"Probably," James said, looking out. "He's the best Auror. He probably knew before you did, Moony."

Moody still looked nonchalant and was actually taking a drink from his hipflask. James tapped his foot and bit his lip, thinking. "Maybe we should tell him."

"Maybe we shouldn't," Remus said. "What if we get caught in the crossfire?"

Suddenly, a blue spell came from the middle of the forest and knocked Moody's flask right out of his hand. In the blink of an eye, there were about five or six Death Eaters; James couldn't get an exact count. The Aurors inside looked so gangly and uncoordinated with their multicolored robes, compared to the sleekness of the Death Eaters with their black uniformed robes. They rushed out, at different times and looking completely unprepared, and chose a Death Eater at random to duel with.

It was at this point that James realized just how much he had to learn. He knew about one-third of all these spells and would probably have been able to perform them in twice the time that these people were firing them off. It was so natural to them, a gruesome dance that was done with precision.

It was also at this battle that the Auror candidates learned just how dirty Death Eaters played. For there were six Death Eaters to begin with, but the sixth ran to get more help. And more help they did get. Nearly 30 Death Eaters swarmed the area, completely outnumbering the Aurors outside. Even with the addition of the Aurors that were hidden inside, it still was not enough.

"Should we go get some help?" Remus asked, breathless.

"I'm sure that they went to go get some," James said, searching the crowd of people wildly for some reason. They waited and waited for what seemed like forever, and still no one came. And then the first flash of green light came and hit one of the outer Aurors. The three standing by the window watched in horror as the man fell to the ground, lifeless.

It was a signal to all of the other Death Eaters. They stepped back from their dueling partners and lifted their wands. The Aurors seemed to know what was going on, and they all bunched together in a circle, as if awaiting their death.

"Come on," James said, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak. Sirius reached out and grabbed his arm.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?!"

"Look, I won't be able to look at myself if I just let fifteen good Aurors die like that," James said. "Not if I can't help."

"James, you saw the way they were fighting," Remus said, motioning to the window. "You can't even dream about fighting that way yet!"

"Look, we've got the element of surprise, if we can-"

"James, this isn't some Quidditch game!" Sirius said. "This is real life! You could get killed!"

James looked out into the yard as the Death Eaters prepared to kill. He turned and gave Sirius a defiant stare. "I'll see you on the other side then." With that, he Disapparated.

Sirius and Remus ran to the window and stared out it as three Death Eaters fell down. Now that the attention was off of the Aurors, they were able to regain their footing and fight back. Still, it was outnumbered and Sirius and Remus still couldn't see James.

"Bloody hell, I can't stay here," Sirius said, looking to Remus. "Let's go."

After a moment's hesitation, Remus nodded and followed Sirius down to the bottom floor. They ran outside and, for a moment, didn't see James, and their blood ran cold. Then they saw him, keeping three Death Eaters at bay, hiding behind a rock to escape their attacks. Whipping out their wands, Sirius and Remus crossed the yard and attacked the three that were holding James behind the rock. While the three were temporarily blinded by the light spell, Sirius and Remus jumped behind a rock and joined James.

"Took you two long enough," James frowned, jumping when a flash of purple light jutted off of the rock.

"Forgive us if we aren't in a hurry to get ourselves killed," Sirius said, reaching over the rock and shooting at whoever shot at them.

"Have you seen Lily anywhere?" James asked, doing the same. Sirius snorted.

"You're about to die and all you can think of is your girl?"

"Can we focus here!?" Remus scolded them as a spell split the top of the rock. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I've got a few spells to shut them up for a while," he said, reaching over. He fired one after the other, spells that neither James nor Remus had ever heard before, and each Death Eater, in turn, looked over to him, as they had obviously heard them before.

"Where the bloody hell did you learn those?" James asked.

"You don't live in a Dark Wizard family for 16 and a half years and not learn some Dark Magic," Sirius said, looking over. He heard some chuckling behind the rock as some Death Eaters gathered around the front of the rock.

"Blood traitor," they hissed. Sirius gritted his teeth and his wand and moved to stand up. James put his hand on his shoulder.

"They're just trying to bait you so that you'll stand up and then they'll kill you!" James hissed. "Don't fall for it."

"Half-bloods and blood traitors," they taunted. James forgot about Sirius and gripped his wand angrily. It was Remus' turn to calm them both down.

"Don't do anything stupid, please," he whispered. "That's what they're after."

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors," it was a chant now.

"So how are we going to get out of this?" Sirius asked Remus. "You're the smart one."

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors. Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors."

"I-I don't think we are going to get out of this one," Remus stuttered quietly. "I don't think they expected it to get this bad."

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors. Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors."

"So are just going to lay down and die?" Sirius cried, getting a bit hysterical.

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors. Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors."

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to sit here and let them kill me. I'm going to fight!" James nodded.

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors. Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors."

"Ready?" Sirius said, holding his wand ready.

"Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors. Cowards, half-bloods, and blood traitors."

"Ready," James said, nodding. All three of them stood up and shot their best shot at the closest Death Eater. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters seemed to have multiplied in number and they found themselves outnumbered, as it was with the rest of the Aurors.

The three of them stood back to back and found themselves in the same position that the other Aurors were earlier in the fight.

"You chose the wrong profession, boys," A very rich and snobby voice came from one of the hoods. He raised his wand.

"No, you did," came a uniquely feminine voice behind him. The circle was broken again, and the three boys came face to face with their savior. Face as red as her hair with exertion and nervousness, wand steady, James, Sirius, and Remus were never so glad to see Lily Evans and Emmeline Vance.

Not only was it Lily and Emmeline, but more Aurors had arrived and, with a sweeping beard and robes, Albus Dumbledore.

"You five, Disapparate to the safehouse now," he ordered.

"But-" James said.

"Now," he ordered, all twinkling gone in his eyes. And for the very first time, James was scared of him. He nodded and Dumbledore continued to duel with seven Death Eaters. Without another word, they Disapparated to the place Moody told them that every Auror went to when they were too injured to carry on.

***

There they waited, sweaty, exhausted, nervous, excited, terrified, thankful to have lived through it. It didn't take long for the rest of the Aurors to arrive, in the same basic condition. James figured that once Dumbledore showed up, it was all over with.

Then, as Dumbledore finally appeared in the safe house, a new mood settled over the group. They were worried about what punishment that Dumbledore was going to inflict on them for leaving the safety of the house and cloak. James had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and sat quietly, holding Lily's hand for comfort.

After the final toll had been counted, three Aurors still missing and presumed dead, five Aurors dead on sight, Dumbledore, Moody, and a woman James knew was Marlene McKinnon approached the five students.

"I thought I told you-" Moody started, but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him.

"I cannot tell you how much danger you put your lives into this evening," Dumbledore started and each student felt their head drop lower. "Do you realize the gravity of the situation?"

Every one of them nodded glumly.

"Therefore, I must tell you on behalf of Alastor and Marlene, how proud we are of your abilities to survive on a battle field." James looked up and his eyes were twinkling again. "Mr. Potter, had you not appeared when you did, countless lives would have been lost before help could arrive. Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, your skills were greatly appreciated. Miss Evans and Miss Vance, had you not come and sounded the alarm at the Ministry of Magic, more lives could have been lost. And both Mr. Prewitts came to alert me as soon as more Death Eaters arrived, they are at the school, Mr. Potter, safe and sound."

James closed his mouth and nodded. Moody cleared his throat.

"Doesn't mean I think you're any less stupid for comin' out into a battlefield."

"Why don't we head on back to the school. I'll have Poppy make sure that nothing's terribly broken and I'll have a House Elf bring you some hot cocoa."

He walked over to the fireplace and picked up a bag of Floo powder. One by one, they Flooed back to Dumbledore's office.

14. When You Really Love A Woman

15. This Gift

16. If Walls Could Talk

"These walls keep a secret that only we know
But how long can they keep it
Cause we're two lovers who loose control
We're two shadows chasing rainbows
Behind closed windows, behind closed doors."
-If Walls Could Talk, Celine Dion
Chapter Sixteen

After Christmas, James seemed to forget all about his projects, and wanted to spend time with Lily, for obvious reasons. But Lily decided to give him some of his own medicine, by spending dawn until dusk with her own girlfriends, Dorcas, Alice, and Emmeline, as they pursed stores for after Christmas deals, which left little time for James.

However, Lily wasted no time showing off her new necklace.

"That is absolutely beautiful!" Alice squealed, admiring her new necklace inside Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor. They were all trying his new �Hot Cream' (ice cream that warmed you up) flavor of caramel pecan maple. "It must have cost him a fortune!"

"I wanted him to take it back," Lily admitted.

Dorcas snorted. "Come now Lily, if he wants to shower you with gifts and put himself in the poor house, let him. He obviously loves you enough."

At that, Lily blushed. She'd still not gotten used to it when he told her that nearly every five minutes. "Yes, he does. And I love him too."

"Have you told him?" Alice asked, completely lapping up all of this sugary sweet sap.

She nodded. "Yes, the first time was when we got into an argument over this necklace because I wanted him to take it back."

"What did he say?" Alice asked.

"He told me that I was impossible to please," Lily fumbled with her napkin. "And then I told him that I was just his girlfriend and then he said that wasn't true, and that he loved me."

"And then you had passionate, hot sex, we know the rest," Dorcas said.

Lily cleared her throat. "No, not....all the way sex, but that really isn't much of your business now is it?" She finished, blush on her cheeks.

"Lily? Not being prudish?" Dorcas said, in mock shock.

"I am not prudish," Lily scowled.

"You've been dating a guy for close to 6 months yet and you haven't slept with him?" Dorcas said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Unless you're one of those types saving yourself for marriage."

"If you must pry," Lily said, after eating another spoonful of her hot cream. She lowered her voice. "The reason why I'm not sleeping with him is because I'm not comfortable being....naked around him."

"Why?" Emmeline asked. "It's not as if he's going to judge you for it or anything."

"No, but I've been...oh I don't know!" Lily frowned, playing with her hot cream.

"Well, you'd best tell him it's not him that you're worried about," Dorcas said.

"I did, and he told me I have nothing to worry about but still...it's not the right time," Lily said, sitting back and playing with her necklace. She was quiet for a while, running her hands over the engraving on the back.

"Six months," Emmeline shook her head. Lily glared at her.

"Well, how long have you been dating your boyfriend, Em?"

She snorted. "Three months now? Yes, I believe that's it."

The three girls gaped at her. "What?!"

"Why didn't you tell us you were dating someone!" Lily said.

"Nobody really knows," Emmeline shrugged. "Not even his best mates."

"But, you should have told me and Sirius. We were trying to hook you up with..." Lily trailed off and watched Emmeline's smile turn into a knowing smirk. Lily's jaw dropped and she reached over the table to hit Emmeline.

"You've been dating Remus for three months and you haven't told anyone?!"

"Ouch, Lily," Emmeline rubbed her shoulder. "He didn't want to have to deal with Sirius and James ribbing him about it."

"Please tell me that you've slept with him and have more sense than Lily here."

Emmeline nodded, and blushed a bit. "Yes, a few times."

"And?" Alice asked, leaning in over the table. "How was it?"

Lily snorted and folded her arms over her chest as Emmeline and Dorcas leaned over the table as well to talk in semi-private.

"Well, before the full moon, or really close to it, he's really aggressive, but afterwards, he's really sweet and loving."

"It's like having two different guys," Alice giggled.

"I'll bet the reason why Remus isn't telling anyone is because he doesn't want James to feel left out," Dorcas snorted.

"That's not fair!" Lily exclaimed. "It's my own personal choice!"

"That's slowly killing your boyfriend," Alice sniggered.

"James is perfectly fine," Lily pouted. "And our relationship is built on more than just sex!"

"We're just kidding with you, Lily," Alice placated. "We know that you and James are more than the normal teenage relationship."

"Yes, don't get all offended, now, Lily," Emmeline grinned. "After all, Remus and I aren't really after much, and you and James are going to get married."

To their surprised, Lily gave them a grin. "To be honest, I was afraid he was going to propose when he gave me this."

"Would you have said yes?" Alice asked.

"If he asked at Christmas? Probably not. If we're still together in a year...who knows?" Lily smiled.

"Ug, this is getting too sweet for me," Dorcas frowned, standing up. "Let's finish shopping, shall we?"

***

Christmas Vacation was over, and soon everyone was on the train back. After a very brief meetings with prefects, Lily and James snuck off to spend some time together. Of course, they couldn't sneak very far as Sirius had a James-Radar and found them within three minutes.

However, he, Remus, and Peter were nice and let them lay next to each other on one side of the compartment while they took the other side and ground and played Exploding Snap.

"Oh, I don't wanna go baaack!" Sirius whined, looking at his cards unhappily. "How long until we leave?"

James, who was snuggling chastely with Lily, looked up at the ceiling in thought. "One hundred and seventy-seven days."

Sirius gaped at him. "One-hundred....."

"And seventy-seven days," James sighed, nuzzling back with Lily. "Including weekends, holidays, skip days-"

"James Potter, you'd better not skip," Lily frowned at him.

"But-cough, cough-I'm coming down with the flu," he teased.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to use some more Vicks," she whispered back.

"Oh, but I am feeling feverish," James grinned.

"Will you two refrain from shagging in front of us, please, Moony and Wormtail are still virgins, you know," Sirius snorted. Lily saw a flit of a smile cross Remus' face, but he said nothing. She, on the other hand, began to chuckle knowingly.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking up.

"Nothing," Lily smiled, putting her cheek on James' chest.

"Do you know something, dear Lily-love?" Sirius asked, crawling across the compartment with the self-same expression as a cat on the prowl.

"N-No," Lily lied, not liking the look on his face. James grinned at Sirius and looked down at her.

"It's not nice to keep secrets about our friends, Lily," he turned so she was trapped between his arms. "I'm n-not keeping secrets," she laughed, but it was a nervous laughter, looking up at the two of them who were grinning down at her.

"I say...we go for the neck," James nodded. Lily continued to laugh nervously.

"I don't-" but the rest of her words were drowned when Sirius' hand shot down and grabbed the side of her neck. She squealed and writhed between James' arms,

"Talk!" Sirius said.

"N-No! I c-c-c-can't!" she laughed, trying to push James off of her. To get a better hold on her, James pulled her up into his lap and wrapped his arm around her and threw one leg as well to keep her from kicking.

"Talk Evans, talk!" Sirius used both hands but wasn't grabbing hard at her neck, just touching her gently. Even so, streams of tears were coming down Lily's face, partially from laughing, and partially from Sirius.

"Remus!" she cried. "Pete! Help me!"

Remus and Peter were too busy laughing at her to do anything else. Lily glared at Remus, because it was his secret she was keeping and relented.

"Fine!" she cried and Sirius let go.

"What's the secret?" he asked.

Lily threw a nasty glance to Remus, who suddenly didn't find it all that funny anymore, and cleared her throat. "Remus has been keeping a secret from you for three months."

"Lily!" Remus cried, but it was too late. Sirius stood up and advanced on Remus.

"Talk, werepuppy, else we start on the girl again."

Remus glared at Lily who glared right back and then looked back to Sirius. "No."

"All right then," Sirius said, turning back to Lily, who cried out in slight fear.

"He's-" she cried out as Sirius advanced on her again, "he's been dating Em for three months!"

Sirius gasped in indignation and whirled on Remus, who was frowning.

"How did you find out about that?" Remus demanded.

"She told me," Lily said, shoving James off.

"Moony?" Sirius said. "Dating Emmeline Vance? For three months? And he kept it a secret?"

"Yes, I did, because I didn't want to hear a lot of crap about it from you," Remus said, adjusting his robes.

Sirius plopped down next to Remus and put his arm on his shoulder. "Please tell me that you haven't been a complete disgrace and you've slept with her."

"That," he took Sirius' arm from around his shoulder, "is none of your business."

Sirius nodded to James who grabbed Lily's neck and she squealed out a "Yes!"

"Good man, Moony, unlike Prongs and his Lily-love here, you have finally become a man!"

Sirius said nothing else, because a small hex went his way from the other side of the compartment. Both Lily and James were glaring at him.

"In the first place, Lily will not become a man when she sleeps with me," James said, as-a- matter-of-fact. "And in the second place, it's none of your business when we do."

And with that, they scrunched into the corner to get away from Sirius and the rest of the compartment. So Sirius decided to get 3 months of overdue ribbing begun.

"Why don't you go find your little Emmy-poo, Moony?" Sirius chuckled. "I'm sure she'd enjoy a nice snog in the loo."

"You're sick," Remus said, giving him a hard stare. "Do you have any idea how many people have done Merlin-knows-what in there?"

"Having done a lot of it myself, yes," Sirius grinned.

"Man-whore," Remus said.

"I'll have you know, Moonster, that I have cut back on girls this year," Sirius snorted.

"Why's that?" Peter, quiet for most of the train ride, except for laughing, spoke up.

"I've got other things to occupy my time," Sirius said, cryptically.

"Or you've run out of girls," Remus muttered.

"I'll have you know there are plenty of girls I have not snogged or shagged," Sirius huffed.

"Only because they're third years or below," Peter chortled.

"Or Slytherins," Remus grinned.

"You two are horrible," Sirius sighed and laid back, eyes traveling to James and Lily, who were mumbling quietly to each other. "And you two are making me sick!"

"Let them be," Remus laid back and closed his eyes. "Has it registered that maybe people don't like it when you make fun of their relationships?"

"Speaking of which," Sirius scooted closer. "How many times have you two shagged?"

"None of your business," Remus replied automatically.

"C'mon, you know how many times I've shagged-"

"That's because I was kept awake by the incessant giggling," Remus said.

"My question is, how did you keep it a secret from us for three months?" Peter asked, scooting in on the other side.

"Quite easy. I didn't say anything, hence, you never asked."

"Yes, but where did you shag?" Sirius asked, amazed. "Not our room, because we would have noticed."

"Sirius you are horribly close-minded," Remus said, nonchalantly. "We just got creative."

Mumbling about werepuppies and natural talents, Sirius scooted away from Remus, and collected the cards for Exploding Snap again.

***

After dinner, before they even had a chance to go to their dormitories, the 7 Auror trainees were whisked by Professor McGonagall for a private meeting with Professor Dumbledore. No one knew what was going on, but they were all too stuffed and sleepy to try to figure it out for themselves.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore, not looking quite as jovial as he normally did, came sweeping into his office and sat down at his desk, looking at the faces grimly, pausing more than once on Lily's face.

"I will make this brief, as you will need to be up and gone from this school early tomorrow," he began, which caused more of a stir in those seated in front of him. "You will be attending the trail and possible sentencing of Bellatrix Black, which begins promptly at eight o'clock in the morning. Your instructor will give you the rules once you have joined with the rest of your class. You will need to meet in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic."

"But why?" Sirius asked, respectfully.

"Because it will be part of your training," Dumbledore nodded. "Witnessing trials will be required of all of you when you become fully trained. Now, off to bed with you. You'll need to get an early start."

With one final look at them all, he dismissed them, but Lily waited to speak to him alone.

"Yes, Miss Evans?"

"Professor, am I...is it bad that I don't hate Bellatrix?" Lily said, ashamed of herself.

"No, Miss Evans, in fact, it is an admirable quality that you have," Dumbledore smiled.

"Are you sure? Because I don't think it makes me a great Auror if I don't hate the person who tried to...to, well, kill me," she blushed. "And, also, I've been thinking a lot, and I really don't want them to...well, to throw her to Azkaban. Am I completely not capable of being an Auror?" Lily asked.

"Miss Evans, I would be far more concerned with the Auror who does not care whether the Death Eater lives or dies," Dumbledore nodded. "You have nothing to worry about, Miss Evans, I think you shall make a fine Auror."

"Thank you, Professor," Lily smiled, and turned to leave.

"However," Dumbledore continued and she turned to face him. "To be an Auror means that you have to put feelings aside, at least temporarily. You cannot be afraid to do the right thing, simply because you feel pity or sorrow for those people, which is an admirable quality."

Lily nodded and left his office.

17. Going Under

18. I Need You

"You're the hope that moves me to courage again
You're the love that rescues me when the cold winds rage
And its so amazing, because that's just how you are
And I can't turn back now, because you've brought me too far
I need you."
-I Need You, LeeAnn Rimes
Chapter Eighteen

Lily once remembered an Auror telling her that no two battles were the same. Each one presented new tactics and new curses, and the only way an Auror could stay alive to see another battle was to be flexible.

She never found any other words to be truer.

At the pre-Christmas battle, she found the Death Eaters to be more along the lines of killing. Now, they seemed only to want to find all of the Muggle-borns they could and torture them mercilessly. James and Sirius kept Lily behind them, simply to keep her out of sight from the Death Eaters, but she shot out spells from between them, when there were more than they could handle.

They had no rocks to hide behind this time, and they were not yet skilled enough to duel on their own. So one of them would shield against harmful spells, while the other two attacked. Sirius had, again, turned out to be the more knowledgeable of the group, shooting of spells that only Death Eaters knew how to counteract.

It was apparent, after a few minutes that lasted forever, that the Aurors were hopelessly outnumbered. Even with two Death Eaters for each Auror, there was a group in the center of the Atrium, torturing the Muggle-Borns. It was a gruesome music to a gruesome scene.

It was terrifying, not knowing when the next spell would hit, if it would be the last for her, or for James, or for Sirius, or for Remus and Em, battling it out a few feet away from them, or for Frank and Alice, skillfully dueling with any who came near, or for Dorcas, or for Kingsley, or for Moody....

She looked towards the door and wondered if the Wizagamot would come, if Dumbledore had heard. Perhaps he was back in Hogwarts, and nobody had told him yet. The Prewett twins, who had sounded the alarm the last time, were still around. Lily, herself, refused to leave James' side, because it might be the last time she could feel his warmth.

Nobody was arriving for either side, and no one was falling, though it seemed as though the Aurors were tiring out much quicker than the Death Eaters who were just getting warmed up.

Lily, James, and Sirius found themselves cornered by two Death Eaters when the attacks on them stopped.

"Here she is, hiding like the coward she is," came the very familiar voice behind a mask.

"Behind a half-blood and a traitor, no less," came another familiar voice.

"Better than faceless cowards, Malfoy," James sneered. "Why don't you take off that mask of yours?"

"I don't need to take orders from you, Half-blood," Malfoy said, smoothly from under the mask.

"Then how about from me, Soareneous!" Sirius cried, shooting a hex Malfoy's way.

"Undrunous!" The other one called and Sirius fell to the ground, the wind clearly knocked out of him.

"Don't use spells from a family that doesn't want you anymore," he said.

"Fuck off, Lestrange," Sirius glared, slowly coming to his knees.

"Language, Siri, honey," Malfoy leered. Without another word, he blasted James to the side so they just had Lily in front of them.

"Vinges!" Lily said, before they could say anything. She was not going to lay down and let them kill her.

"You have made a very serious mistake, Mudblood," Lestrange huffed, adjusting his mask when he stood again. "First, you don't die when Bella wanted you to, and now you attack me? Crucio!"

Pain, like Lily had never felt, coursed through her body and she didn't even know that she was screaming until the spell was off of her and she could hear the echoing off of the walls. She looked over and saw James was now dueling on his own with Lestrange, anger pulsing off him like fire. Before, he lacked the focus to attack and shield at the same time, but now that his ears were ringing with the sound of Lily's screams, he was completely on task.

Sirius, already the better dueler than James having been taught it at a young age, had taken Malfoy on and was doing fairly well. Lily got to her feet shakily and leaned against the wall, still trembling. She now knew why wizards went to Azkaban for the rest of their life for performing that spell.

She tried to get herself back into the battle, but was finding it hard keeping standing, let alone bring her wand up to defend herself. She tried to Apparate, but found her mind too scattered to do that. She chided herself; how was she going to be able to be an Auror when something as simple as a Cruciatus Curse got the best of her?

She heard a cry to her left, and James had fallen to his back. Lestrage was looking upon him with malice in his eye as he looked down on him. He raised his wand, but then jerked his left arm. Stepping back, Lily could see excitement in his eyes.

"You are lucky, Potter, you won't get to die by my hands, but the most powerful wizard of all time..." His voice was now sounding maniac, instead of the smooth tones that it usually held. Lily took this opportunity to go to his side and help him off his back. He looked up at her and touched her face.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly. She nodded, helping him to his feet.

"What's going on?" she asked, clinging to him for dear life and looking around wildly.

"I-I don't know..." James said, as none of the other battles had ceased. Suddenly, there was a loud boom in the middle of the room, and some of the terrified spectators who were not caught in the fry, screamed.

Standing in the middle of the Atrium was Lord Voldemort.

He looked even worse than either James or Lily had imagined him. He looked unreal, with catlike slits for eyes that surveyed the room, a grotesque grin on his face. Lestrange and Malfoy fell to their knees and kissed the hem of his robe groveling.

James felt Lily's cold, sweaty hand grasp his. Next to him, Sirius was pale and shaking slightly, and James had never seen Sirius scared of a thing in his life.

The eyes were still sweeping the room until they rested upon James. A cold dread began to fill him, especially when his eyes swept behind him to Lily. He grasp her hand tighter as he made his way towards them.

"So," he said quietly. "This is the Mudblood."

Lily straightened up behind James, defiantly. James took his strength from hers and positioned himself in front of her.

"Isn't this a sight," he mocked them. "Barely adults and ready to die for each other."

He raised his wand at Lily and then a satisfied smile came to his face. "Actually, I think...a more effective punishment..."

He turned his wand from Lily to James. "Imperio." He said quietly.

James suddenly slammed against the wall beside him and then he felt very light. He heard a voice in the back of his head.

Kill her...go on...raise your wand... hissed the voice in his ear.

"No...no..." James muttered. He looked up at Lily, whose voice seemed so far away. The voice told him Kill her....you hate her....kill her and for some reason, he started to believe it. He didn't love her, he hated her.

Slowly, he raised his wand, his entire body aching with each movement. She was backing up and still calling out to him.

Kill her...kill her now...

The diamond heart around her neck sparkled. He gave that to her because he loved her...

KILL HER! RAISE YOUR WAND AND KILL HER! The voice screamed in his head. Suddenly James felt himself coming back to himself.

He looked over and saw Voldemort with his hands over his face, crying out. To his left, Lily had her wand raised, a livid expression on her face.

"Are you ok, James?" she asked. He nodded.

"Lily, I-" he said, still a bit light-headed.

"Watch yourself!" Lily said, looking to her right. James turned and saw Frank deflecting the spell that came from a Death Eater. Both he and Alice were rushing over, having left their Death Eaters to the Aurors rushing in.

There were Aurors rushing in, James realized. And Dumbledore, and members of the Wizagamot.

Voldemort immediately forgot about Lily, James, and the rest of the small fries and swept over to duel with Dumbledore. James stood for a moment, transfixed, until he felt himself yanked up by the scruff of his neck.

"C'mon Potter," Moody said into his ear. "To the safe house with you."

James looked around and saw he was the only trainee left. With a nod, he Apparated to the Safe House.

***

The aftermath of the second Death Eater battle seemed to affect everyone a bit less than the first. Except for Lily and James, who were still a bit off from the aftermath of the Unforgivable Curses. Dumbledore arrived about thirty minutes after James did, looking a bit harried, but alive and well. He swept over to James and Lily, who were sitting on beds in a back room and being looked over by Healers.

He looked at them, his eyes not twinkling. He bent down and looked at Lily first, examining her face.

"Cruciatus curse?" he asked, quietly. Lily nodded. He turned to the Healer and she brought over a potion for Lily to drink. She took it in her hands quietly and stared at it. "Drink it, I want you to stay here tonight so that we can watch you."

She nodded, but didn't drink.

Dumbledore swept over to James and looked him over. "Imperious Curse?" he asked. James nodded, glumly.

"I couldn't throw it off," he admitted quietly.

"James, it takes even fully qualified Aurors several times to completely throw off the Imperious curse," he said, looking into James' left eye and then right eye. "If you had been completely under, you would have killed Lily."

He clapped his hand on his shoulder and handed James the same potion as Lily.

"Both of you, drink," he said, leaving them alone.

James stared at the potion and put it on the table. Lily looked over to him and called his name. He didn't respond. She slid off of her bed and sat down next to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, rubbing gently. He shrugged her off.

"Stop," he muttered.

"Baby," she whispered, scooting closer and wrapping her arms around his mid-section. "Its ok."

"No, it's not," he said, his throat tight. "Lily, I nearly killed you."

"You didn't, James," she said, putting her cheek on his shoulder. "You were struggling the whole time-"

"But I raised my wand at you," he said, a tear running down his cheek. Lily turned his head and made him look at her.

"Listen to me, ok? He's an evil, vile person. This was supposed to make you feel like this, it was supposed to make you give up." She brushed her hands across his cheeks to stop another tear from falling. "Don't let him."

He reached around and pulled her into his lap. "Lily..."

"Shh," she looked up at him. "Think about it this way, you already know how it feels, so the next time you can push it off." She reached up and brushed his unmanageable hair.

"Did it hurt?" he asked, quietly.

She nodded and put her head in the crook of his neck. "But you were there to help me, just like I was there to help you. Which is why they tried to turn you against me, because we're such a team."

He kissed her forehead. "But they didn't get us, did they?"

"No, they didn't, and we won't let them get us, will we?" Lily asked. "And we're not going to let this bother us, are we?"

James was silent.

"Are we?" Lily nudged him.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Are we?" Lily poked his side.

"No, we're not," James said, reaching over and grabbing the potions. He handed one to her and opened it, sniffing it lightly.

"Sleeping Draught," he said, kissing her gently. "I suppose you should get back in your bed, as I know you wouldn't fancy then walking in on us."

She brought out her wand and brought her bed next to his. "That better?" "Definitely," he clinked his potion bottle against hers. "Bottoms up?"

They both drank their potions and climbed into her bed, getting under the covers. Then they positioned their pillows next to each other. James had planned to stay up a bit more, but he found himself falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"James?" Lily whispered.

"Hm?" he muttered.

"I love you too," she kissed his nose and then fell asleep on her pillow.

***

"James!" Sirius cried, running over to him when they returned the next morning. "Merlin's beard, are you ok? You too, Lily!"

They looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah, how about you?" James asked.

"A bit sore, but you two...are you sure? I mean, there's a reason they're Unforgivable Curses?" Sirius said, staring at them.

"We're good, still a bit tired, I think Dumbledore wanted us out of there as soon as possible," Lily grinned. "I think I'm going to go take a nap, what do you think?"

"Excellent," James agreed, yawning.

"Well, they seem to be doing well enough," Remus remarked, watching them go.

"Bah," Sirius replied. "Stupid lovebirds."

19. From My Head to My Heart

Once again, I just can't get it straight
Wondering if wandering is my fate
But don't loose hope in me quite yet
Because help must be on the way...any day...
-My Head to My Heart, Evan and Jaron
Chapter Nineteen

"I need a plan for Valentine's Day," James said, from behind the large book on Transfiguring Muggle objects larger than 50 sq. meters while they were flying in the air. Sirius, behind another very large book on Transfiguring Muggle objects larger than 50 sq. meters while they were floating in the sea, snorted.

"I thought you took a loan out on your life to pay for that diamond necklace of hers. Isn't that enough?"

"Well, I didn't say it had to be expensive," James grunted.

"Picnics are nice," Sirius suggested.

"In the mountains?" James asked.

"Sure, if it's warm enough," he gave a lewd smile. "And if it's not, I'm sure you two can find ways to keep warm."

"I daresay we can," James grinned.

"Why are you bothering? I mean, she hasn't asked for anything else has she?"

"No, she was dropping hints that she wanted to do something for Valentine's Day when we go to Hogsmeade is all."

"You know, ever since you got involved with Lily, you've been annoyingly perceptive," Sirius glared at him from over the dusty pages.

"Well, I don't want to mess up what I've got," James said, honestly.

"You don't have anything," Sirius corrected. "All you've gotten is a good feel up. You've not even shagged yet!"

"We're getting really close though," he grinned. "I can feel it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, mate. But can I drag your attention away from Miss Evans at the moment and turn you to the object at hand. We've less than 100 days until we leave this school, and yet to figure out a) what we're going to do for our Grande Finale, and 2) who's going to be the next troublemaker at the school."

James blinked at him, confused for a minute. "A and 2...?"

"Anyway, I propose we let the word out to the younger kids that we're in the market for some proteges."

"But I thought you said that we were going to teach Oliver everything we knew and just let the cool ones gravitate towards him."

"Yes, but I've been thinking about that," Sirius rubbed his chin, which wanted shaving. He leaned over his book. "As the current mood of the world is semi-anti-Muggle-born, it might do us good to have someone who's at least a half-blood in the group."

"True," James nodded. "But, that shouldn't be a qualification."

"No, no, I'm sure there are some troublesome half-bloods around," Sirius nodded. "How about we have a little obstacle course of sorts, next time we go to Hogsmeade. We can ask them to show us their stuff."

"Yeah," James grinned. "But why Hogsmeade?"

"Well, in the first place, I assume a lot of kids will want to show up, and I don't think a lot of them will be willing to go into the Forbidden Forest. Second, we can use the mountains on the edge of Hogsmeade without getting any suspicious glares from teachers and so on and so forth."

"Sounds good," James nodded, scratching on his paper. "Shall we begin spreading the word?"

"We can't do it by paper, lest your flower get into a tizzy," Sirius said. "You spend time with the younger ones, why don't you talk to them?"

"The only ones that I tutor don't have the brains to be able to keep up and fool around."

"Pete didn't either," Sirius said.

"Good point."

"What should I tell them?" James asked.

"Meeting in Hogsmeade for every bloke-"

"I think we should be an Equal Opportunity Employer, Padfoot," James pointed out, smirking.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "So every bloke and bird who thinks they have what it takes to be the next group of Marauders."

"Oh, wait, no ickle firsties or secondies in Hogsmeade," James frowned.

"Bah, if they can get past Filch, they're good enough to try out," Sirius nodded.

"But if they aren't going to want to go into the Forbidden Forest, then they aren't want to go past Filch-"

"James, there is a difference between getting past Filch and the Forbidden Forest," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"What's that?"

"Filch won't bite your head off."

"Good point."

***

James looked over at Lily, who had a small smile on her face. They were nearing the ends of their nightly rounds, walking down a moonlit hallway. She had been oddly quiet throughout the entire walk, choosing to just hold his hand and look at the grounds still covered in snow.

"What?" he asked, finally.

"Nothing," she sighed, giving him a secretive look.

"No, what is it?" he asked, tugging on her arm so that she walked closer to him.

"I love you," she smiled.

"Er...I love you too," he chuckled. "What brought that on?"

"I've just been thinking...about when we weren't dating," she said. "About how I never knew who I was going to be spending my evenings with."

"Well, I solved that problem, now didn't I?"

She took his hand and put it around her waist. "And I was also thinking about how I just adore Hogsmeade visits."

"Why's that?"

"Cause I always have someone to go with," she smiled, standing up on her toes and kissing him on the cheek.

"And if I have anything to say about it, you always will," he said.

"So we are going together?" she asked, grinning.

"Of course, it's the Valentine's day visit, and the last one of the year, who else would I spend it with?"

She beamed. "I'm so lucky to have you, James."

"I'm lucky to have you, Lily," he shook his head.

"No, I'm luckier."

"I am."

"I am."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"No, I love you more..."

***

It only occurred to James five days later that the Hogsmeade visit was coincidentally the same day as when he and Sirius had planned the tryouts. In the first place, he was worried that Lily would break up with him (something that was on the back of his mind at all times), and in the second place, he was upset because he'd not been spending enough time with Sirius as it was. He had an obligation to Sirius as well as to the rest of his friends.

Torn between his mate and his girl, he went to the place where he could get some good advice.

"Moony, my friend, its been so long since we've had a heart to heart-"

"What do you want, Prongs?" he asked, not looking up from his book that he was reading.

"I'm actually in a bit of a bind..." James blushed.

"Whatever it is, you got yourself in, you can get yourself-"

"No, no, I know that, but I wanted a bit of advice," James played with the table.

Remus sighed. "Well, if that's the case, I'm all ears."

"All right, here's my predicament. I promised Sirius I would help him find some new troublemakers at Hogsmeade, right?"

"You two...yes, I know," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Well, it also happens that I promised Lily that I would spend the day with her."

"And why did you do this?"

"Because I'm an idiot?" James suggested. "I just wanted to know what you think I should do?"

"Have you tried talking with either of them?"

"Well, no..."

"Don't you think you should start there?" Remus said.

"Well, I don't..." he sighed. "Now don't think that I'm blowing smoke, but I'm afraid if I cancel, that Lily'll get mad at me, in which case that she'll never forgive me, and then leave me."

"James, you do realize you're overreacting, right?" Remus said.

"Probably."

"Do you think so little of Lily that you think that she'll break up with you, simply because you want to cancel a date to do something with Sirius?"

"You don't think she'll be mad?"

"No, I don't," Remus shook his head.

***

"Lily, beautiful, can we talk about Hogsmeade?" James asked. Lily had invited herself to his room and they were hanging around talking privately.

"Of course...planning anything for our picnic?" she grinned, happily.

"Er..." James bit his lip. He hated to take that smile off of her face.

"Yes?" Lily asked, pausing for a bit.

"Could we maybe...call it off?"

"Call it off?" she asked. "Why?"

"Because...er...Sirius wanted me to help him with something," James said, rubbing the back of his head. Lily narrowed her eyes. She had been around him long enough to know when he was lying.

"And he can't do it any other day of the month?"

"No..."

"Even though you four go to Hogsmeade every day to get candy and such?"

"I have not been getting candy," James said. "I have been saving my allowance to pay for that necklace that you so proudly wear!"

Lily sighed and walked over to him. "James, if it is really and truly something that you must do with Sirius on that day alone, then I won't mind." She kissed him lightly on the side of his ear. "But you can't tell me what it is?"

"N-No," James cursed himself for being weak in the knees as she sucked on his ear lobe.

"Not even a hint?" she whispered, nipping at it gently.

"Uuuh-uh," he moaned sinking to a sitting position on his bed. She climbed on his lap.

"Please?" she asked, kissing down his cheek, but passing his lips.

"I can't...you'll get mad at me," he whispered. Lily paused, but continued nipping at his other ear.

"I won't get mad at you, Baby," she smiled, agonizingly slowly kissing down his cheek.

"I...uh...." he whined. "We're training new Marauders," he blurted out. Lily suddenly stopped kissing him.

"For that you're skipping out on me?" she cried, getting off of his lap. He snapped his head up and realized that he had just been pumped for information.

"That's not fair!" James frowned. "You can't just do that!"

"Well you can't just blow me off for teaching innocent little boys how to become complete terrors?! I thought you had given up on all of that, after my brother?!"

"Er..." James stuttered.

"I suppose I'll just have to spend my time with someone else," Lily said, walking to the door.

"Lily!" James cried. "Don't go!"

Her only response was to slam the door behind her.

***

When James had huffily gone to Remus and told him what had happen, Remus had responded by telling him that he should have known that Lily wouldn't have approved of what he was doing, and that he should have lied.

"Well, why don't you ask Sirius to postpone it?" he suggested.

"Oh yes, that'll go over real well. He's already hacked off at me for spending so much time with Lily as it is."

"Well, Prongs, I don't know what to tell you," Remus snapped at him. "You asked for my advice and I gave it to you. Do with it what you want?"

"Do you think Sirius would understand?"

"In all honesty?"

James nodded.

"No, I don't think he'll understand. And he shouldn't have to."

"So you think Lily's at fault?" James asked, hopefully.

"No, I think it's your fault for promising two people the same day."

"Oh....so which one do you think that I should tell that I can't go to?"

"That will have to be your decision," Remus says.

"I can't believe I have to choose between my best friend and girlfriend," James muttered.

"I suppose every man must make that choice at some point," Remus nodded sagely. "Well, good luck to you."

He left James sitting in an armchair, pondering the value of the two most important people in his life.

20. My Funny Valentine

SGR's Note: The copyright for the sung song is 1975, FYI. So no spam about how it's the wrong date.
"My funny Valentine
Sweet, comic Valentine
You make me smile with my heart."
-My Funny Valentine, Frank Sinatra

Chapter Twenty

Dawn broke on the day of Hogsmeade, and still James was stuck with two day-long appointments and only one day to use. He had spent a sleepless night tossing and turning and finally gave up sleep to sit in the windowsill and look out upon the mountains on the outside of Hogsmeade as the sun slowly rose on the horizon.

He and Lily decided that they were going to be going on a picnic, though she had told him to surprise her at the where, but he'd been so busy scouting with Sirius to pause and look for a place to have it. She was looking forward to it, so much so that he had overheard her talking with Dorcas and Alice about their plans, with such a sparkle in her eyes. He loved that sparkle, especially when it was his making.

Sirius, on the other hand, was too involved in thinking up a prankster obstacle course to make the connection that James was promising Lily that they were going to spend the day together the same day as tryouts. He had roped James the day before into setting up the course that the younger students would be running the next day. They had been dredging up all the situations they had found themselves in (most of which they had put themselves in) and did their best to recreate the scenes. The past few days had been filled with reliving their old days, and there had been a rekindling of the lost fire between the two boys. James felt closer than he ever did to Siris.

Which made him feel twenty times worse about not being there.

James leaned his forehead against the cool window and sighed. Somebody was going to get hurt, and it was going to be James' fault.

His eyes snapped open suddenly. How could he be so dumb? Of course he could please both of them, it was so easy! He'd have to do it just right, of course, and that would require careful planning on his part and the use of his Invisibility Cloak.

Stepping away from the window, he glanced at the clock on the wall. It was near five in the morning; that would give him about two and a half hours to figure out the exact spot where he could place Lily, and...

He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and nearly ran out of his dorm. He had a lot to do, and not a lot to do it in, after all.

***

"James!" Lily sighed, as they came into view of the spot where he had fished out some hour before. A blue blanket had been placed on the edge of the cliff with a display of assorted fruit and cake pieces and a bowl of steaming chocolate in the middle. There was also a single red rose and a bottle of wine icing beside the blanket.

"Is this satisfactory?" he asked, waiting for her to sit before he joined her.

"Have I told you how amazing I think you are?" Lily sighed, ogling all that was before her. James reached down and picked up a long stemmed strawberry, dipping it into the chocolate, and then bringing it up to her mouth.

"Open wide," he said, leaning in with the strawberry. Instead of putting it in her mouth, he put it in his, biting off the entire strawberry except for the stem. She pouted at him as he stared back at her, strawberry still clutched between his teeth.

"That's not fair..."

James said something, which was hard to make out, but perfectly clear by the look in his eyes. She leaned forwards and put her mouth to his, pushing the entire strawberry out of his mouth (not exactly what he had planned), into hers, and promptly began chewing.

"You weren't supposed to take the whole thing, Baby," he kissed her nose.

"Let's try again then, shall we?" she asked, taking a strawberry of her own in her mouth. James peered down at his watch nonchalantly and jumped. Sirius was gonna kill him!

"Something wrong?" Lily asked, taking the strawberry out of her mouth.

"No, Baby," he kissed her. "Stay right there. I'll be right back."

With that, he left her, a chocolate-covered strawberry sitting in her hand and set into the forest, in search of his second appointment of the day.

James' brilliant idea consisted of having fun-time with Lily and then "conveniently" finding excuses to get away and run to the other side of the forest to where Sirius was trying out the younger kids.

Because James' sense of direction was...not so hot, he put markers up on trees between where the starting point was for the Marauders-to-be. He came upon them, and Sirius looking a bit irked. James had promised him that he'd be here by 9:30, but Lily had wanted to �walk' and enjoy the village for a bit, so it was near 10 when he finally made it to where Sirius was.

"Finally, what took you so long?"

"Got lost?" James shrugged. Sirius snorted.

"Fine Quidditch player you are," he turned to the group. James surveyed them critically. Most of them looked in awe to be so close to the famous James Potter and Sirius Black. He could pick out a few first years, as they were the smallest and most scared of the bunch. They, plus whatever second years there were, were already high up in James' book for the craftiness to get past Filch.

"All right, Padfoot, we ready to begin?"

"What's on your face?" Sirius asked, peering at a dark spot on the side of James' mouth.

"Nothing," James said, quickly wiping his mouth. "Are we ready to begin?" he asked again.

Sirius gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing further on the subject. "Yes, I figure we can separate the years to find the best out of all of the years and then we can set those upon each other. While you were dawdling I explained the rules, so we're all ready to go."

"Fine, fine, so I shall patrol the eastern side of the mountain and you'll patrol the western?" he asked.

"Yes, yes," Sirius nodded. They had set up a series of obstacles all up and down the mountain, which included cardboard dummies Transfigured to be real of teachers and Slytherins, pieces of parchment with scenarios of hallways and classrooms in Hogwarts, and random spells that must be performed.

James and Sirius were going to be positioned up and down the eastern and western sides of the mountain (or were supposed to) and were going to be hiding and watching certain things. None of the trainees knew when or where they were going to be, so they were encouraged to do their best at all times.

Of course, this was perfect for James because he could sneak off to be with Lily and get back for a few minutes to watch a bit, and then return to be with Lily. He was just mad at himself for not figuring it out sooner.

After the initial send off, James hurried back to find Lily. She was looking quite put out for being kept so long.

"Where were you?" she asked, impatiently, and James saw that the strawberries were gone. He grinned and sat down next to her, kissing her sensuously. She seemed to forget about being mad for a bit and leaned into him, kissing him just as passionately.

Out of the corner of his eye, James peered at his watch and monitored himself fifteen minutes of Lily-time before he went back to check on the Marauders-to-be.

He spent this time taking turns snogging her and feeding her grapes and cherries and slices of oranges. He also had several foolproof ways of getting away from her.

He slowly lessoned his passion. "Wait right here."

"James, stay with me," Lily whispered, grabbing the front of his shirt and keeping her close.

"Ok..." he relented, coming back to her and kissing her again. Then he remembered his job and pushed himself to stop.

"I want to go get you something," he says, pulling away.

"I don't want it, then," she shook her head.

He chuckled and stood up. "Be right back. Don't move."

***

"Ahh!!!" the first year cried, as he was sprung on by a cardboard, but very life-like Filch.

James banged his head against the tree. And the first years were looking so promising too. He looked at his clock. He hadn't had a steady group come by, which made him irked, because every second of time that he sat alone in the forest, he could have been snogging Lily.

***

"James," Lily giggled. "Stop it! I'm going to get a mark!"

"That would be the point, Dear," James grinned, continuing.

"James!" Lily cried, as he pushed her slowly to the ground. Of course, his intention was landing his left hand on his wand. A shot of wind came out of his wand and rustled the bushes.

Lily broke apart from him roughly and looked at the bushes. "What was that?"

"I'll go check it out," James assured her, kissing her forehead and taking his wand and smiling so he couldn't see her. Everything was going about perfectly so far.

***

James peered at his watch. He'd have time to watch for two more before he went back fo his snogging/eating with Lily.

All in all, he was fairly disappointed with the entire lot. They didn't show much spunk or initiative or even creativity. He wondered if Sirius was fairing better, but he needed to get back to Lily.

She was drawing things in the sand when James returned.

"What was it?" Lily asked. "I was worried."

"What was what?" James asked, confused.

"The thing in the bushes," she said.

"Wha-OH!" James grinned. "It was nothing."

"So what took you so long?" Lily asked. James decided not to answer, but just to kiss her, as this was his preferred way of making her forget about his questions. It didn't work this time.

"James, what took you so long?" she pressed again.

"I...... thought I saw someone so I was following it," he lied, leaning in again.

"And?" Lily pushed him away.

"And it turned out to be a deer or something," he said, trying again.

"There are no deer in this forest except for you," she reminded him.

"I am a stag thank you very much!" he huffed indignantly.

"Sorry...did I wound your manly pride?" she asked, putting her hand on his chest.

"Mortally," he said, mocking as if he was hurt.

"Well, then, shall I kiss it and make it better?" she asked, unbuttoning his shirt. He looked around at the forest. He had no problem getting partially undressed with Lily in the middle of the forest, but should an ickle firstie get lost, he didn't want them to have to walk into the sight of them going at it.

Still, he kinda forgot all about the ickle firsties when she pressed her lips to his bare chest, moving across it slowly. He leaned back and breathed her name, a grin coming to his face. She kissed up his chest to his neck and nipped at his shoulders, as she settled into his lap.

Sliding his hands under her shirt, she jumped when his cold hands touched her bare skin. "Cold hands," she whispered against his neck. He continued up the back of her shirt finding her bra and unhooking it without any difficulty.

She forgot about his neck and kissed his mouth, hungrily. He responded in turn by sliding his hands to the front of her chest.

Before he could get to what he was aiming for, he heard a voice in the bushes. Cursing the terrible timing of some kid, he looked to Lily, who had also heard the voice.

"Perhaps he's back?" she asked quietly, sliding off of his lap, and rehooking her bra. James sighed and stood up, grabbing his wand to steer whatever kid on the right path.

"Ug...be right back," James groaned and stormed into the forest.

***

Even with James' horrible sense of direction, he was starting to think that maybe, somehow, he'd misread his own markers. Because he was sure that he hadn't passed a giant cliffside before. He paused for a moment to look down the dark abyss, wondering just how long it went down.

And then he doubted that he even saw any markers when he turned to find that there were no markers, though he was positive that he'd followed them. He sighed and backed up to the cliff side, thinking deeply.

He was sure he came by that tree...or maybe it was that tree, or was it a bush? But that bird looked awfully familiar, and there it flew off.

Panic began to fill James' brain. He suddenly thought of what would happen if he had to live out in the wilds of the woods for the rest of his life. If he'd have to eat rats (Wormtail! he thought) and become a wild man. Or worse, he'd never see Sirius again or...

Or he'd never get to snog Lily again.

"Oh jeez, oh jeez," he was really panicking now. He hopped from on foot to the other and looked around, worriedly. He came from that tree, didn't he? Or maybe it was that bush. But that bird looked awfully familiar, and there it went flying over the ravine.

Suddenly, the very calm, quiet voice that lay usually dormant in his head began to speak. He was a wizard. He had a wand. He knew a spell to get himself on the right track.

"You know, Prongs, sometimes you're really an idiot," he muttered to himself. He turned, losing his balance for a minute, next to the cliffside, and chuckled. Then he laughed a good laugh at himself.

"Now, where is my wand?" he asked, feeling around in his pockets, still chuckling at himself. He didn't see the spell come out of the bushes, crumbling the rock face and sending him falling into the darkness.

***

Lily threw a branch aside angrily, looking around for James in the mountainside forest. He had been gone for an hour and if she had thought him disappearing every so often was suspicious, now she definitely thought so. Especially when she overheard Sirius talking to a group of younger kids.

"All right, now whenever James returns, we'll give you our scores," he said, tapping his foot.

"Black." Lily said, dangerously, coming into the clearing. "Where is he?"

Sirius turned around, confused. "Lily? What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for Potter," she said. "He was supposed to be spending the day with me-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, James was supposed to be helping me out today with these guys-"

"I thought I told him to give up on that," Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He's been disappearing every half hour."

"So you mean to tell me that he hasn't been doing his part of the deal?" Sirius asked.

"I haven't seen him in an hour, so I suppose that he at least kept one of us happy," she snorted.

"I've been waiting here for 45 minutes," Sirius said, getting a bit concerned.

"Do you think he got lost?" Lily asked.

"It's possible, with his sense of direction," Sirius snorted. He turned to the candidates. "If any of you fancy sticking around to help find James, come with me, and everyone else can go."

A few of the kids left, but the majority stayed. Sirius divided them up to search and he took Lily and a small first year with him.

"I can't believe him," Lily grumbled, looking around. "James!" she called.

"James!" Sirius called. "Well, honestly, he promised me first. Jim!"

"James!" Lily called, peering behind a bush. "Yes, but you shouldn't even be doing this in the first place. Ja-ames!"

"Why not?" Sirius said, looking behind a rock.

"Because you don't need to be teaching innocent kids things like hexing people. It sets a bad example."

"Bad example? It's teaching kids to defend themselves," Sirius called again, "James!"

"Defend themselves?" Lily snorted. "You're teaching them to hurt other people without warning! James! Are you there?!"

"Not without warning, Lily," Sirius said, slyly. "They usually have it coming. We're above hexing people for no reason, now. Jim!"

"Even if they do have it coming, that is no reason to stoop down to their level and hex them," Lily sighed. "That's wrong."

"All right, so next time a Death Eater is trying to kill you, are you going to negotiate for them to cease hostilities?" he asked.

"No," Lily said. "That's different. Those people are already murderers, a few spells won't hurt them."

"The Slytherins here, they're already Death Eaters," Sirius said. "I'd bet my golden dog collar on it."

Lily shot a look down to the first year who wasn't really listening. "You have a golden dog collar?"

"No, not really," Sirius said, moving aside a tree branch as they came upon a deep ravine. Lily and Sirius were too scared to take another step forwards.

And then they heard it.

"Alll byyyy myyyyseeeeeeelf....don't want to be....alll byy myseeeeelf..."

"James!" Sirius and Lily rushed to the edge of the cliff. James was sitting at the bottom of the cliff, which, upon closer inspection, was not as far as it seemed.

"Oh, there you guys are!" James whined, standing. "I've been waiting here ages."

"Are you all right, baby?" Lily asked, biting her lip.

James eyed the two of them. By now they probably knew what he had been doing, and they would probably be mad at him if he didn't distract them in some way.

"Yes," he said, melodramatically. "If only my leg wasn't broken..."

"I'll be right down mate!" Sirius said, edging over the side of the cliff.

"Me too!" Lily said, following suit. She stopped right on the edge of the cliff, however, and felt it, curiously.

"All righty!" Sirius said, jumping down to face James. Sirius took one look at James and then punched him in the shoulder.

"You big bloody faker."

"What!?" James said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Last time you broke something, you were screaming like a little girl."

"Well my shoulder's broken now, thanks to you."

"Lily, he's not...what are you looking at?" Sirius called up.

"This is too smooth to be caused naturally."

"What dya mean?" James asked.

"Somebody tried to kill you, I think," Lily said. "Tried and failed. And they wanted to make it look like an accident."

"That doesn't sound like a Death Eater," James shook his head. "Because I didn't see anybody."

Lily pulled herself up on the ledge again. "Come on, you two. Let's get back to the school before any other mishaps happen."

"Yeah, and why don't you explain what happened today, Potter?" Sirius asked, scathingly.

"Owww...my leeeeeeg-OW! PADFOOT! I THINK YOU REALLY BROKE IT THIS TIME!"

Sirius shrugged and began climbing.

21. Fallen

22. More than Words

23. You Don't Own Me

24. Somewhere I Belong

25. My Immortal

26. Naked

SGR'S NOTE: This chapter contains a dipiction of sex. Nothing too terribly graphic, but still.

�Guess I never had someone like you
To help me fit in my skin
I've never felt like this before
I'm naked around you
Does it show?�
-Naked, Avril Lavinge

Chapter Twenty-Six

The feeling of her parents forgiveness made the healing process of their deaths much easier for Lily. Not to mention the constant vigilance of her worried boyfriend; she wasn't sure if she'd slept in her own bed once since she returned from the funeral. Of course, as NEWTs drew closer, her attention was more and more focused on her studies, and not so much on the hole in her heart. It was this constant strain to do well on these exams that helped Lily pass the weeks more than any other.

James and Sirius, however, naturally brilliant at everything, weren't seen pouring over books or their old notes like the rest of their classmates. They were most often seen laughing in the corner of the Common Room, writing down things that made them laugh harder than others, which gave Lily, unaware of what exactly they were doing, a foreboding feeling.

James had been such a good boy all year, what on Earth was he planning now?

She hoped it wasn't anything too...terrible. He'd been such a role model, she suppose she'd let him get away with a bit of fun at the end of the term, but how far were they going? She assumed Slytherins would be involved, which, as much as she hated it, were going to be a given, as James and Sirius never failed to include those oh-so-lucky innocents in whatever plot they were hatching.

The NEWTs came, and went, with little incident from the two smirking boys. However, there was much incident from some of the other NEWT students, especially Peter, as he had somehow managed to screw something royally up in every exam, that by the final one (Potions), he didn't even show up.

Lily wondered as the clock on the wall ticked away the time until the end of the Potions exam, if something was going to explode. James and Sirius were giving each other knowing looks from other sides of the room. Lily, closer to Sirius than James, hastily scribbled a note and threw it over to him while McGonagall wasn't looking.

What has gotten into the two of you?

Sirius took the note and hid it under his desk, reading it as McGonagall looked over to them. Once she had turned her back again, he wrote back on it and passed it back to Lily.

Wouldn't you like to know....

Lily glared at him and wrote back.

Stop being so cryptic. You aren't going to hurt anyone are you?

Sirius snorted.

No, dear, though those with heart conditions might want to steer clear of the main corridor on the first floor the final day of classes.

Which was how Lily found herself sitting in-doors on the final day of younger-year classes on the first floor corridor. Her foot was tapping nervously on the ground, and she ran through all of the pranks that James and Sirius might pull on the unsuspecting students that walked into the halls. Though she knew in her heart that James would not longer hurt anyone, she brought her wand just in case he got a bad case of behavioral regression and she had to stun him. He was Head Boy no more in less than a week, and she wondered if he had quit early.

The bell rang on the final class and students filed out of the classrooms into the hallway happily. Some let out cheers of extreme happiness, others chattered with smiles of extreme satisfaction on their faces, and still others worried about the outcome of their exams.

Of course, the progressive gasp that was coming from down the hallway caused several students to turn their heads. The Red Sea was parting, along with screams and whoops of delight. Lily stood up, wand ready, and ready to defend whatever she needed to.

Then her wand dropped from her hand, and her entire body went slack; she was only just still standing.

James and Sirius, red in the face from running from one end of the hallway to the other, were approaching her at a fast pace. Completely. Butt. Ass. Naked. Except for their shoes and socks.

Lily continued to stare at them, her eyes dropping more than once to take in the sights, and realized why Sirius had such a large fanbase, among other things. James was nothing new, as she had been brave enough once or twice to cop a feel, but seeing him completely naked was a new sight.

They both paused in front of her, out of breath and sweaty, to kiss her on her cheeks.

"Want to join us, Lily?" James asked, laughter on his face.

"No thanks," she grinned. "But I'd watch out, here comes Filch-"

"Oi!" James laughed, turning to look behind him and taking off once more.

***

"You two are bloody insane!" Lily laughed that evening, watching the four of them pack to leave the next morning. "What did McGonagall say?"

"Well, she was trying really hard not to laugh," Sirius grinned.

"She was not," Lily shook her head.

"She found it funny, Lily," James nodded. "The way her mouth kept twitching upwards-"

"It does that when she's mad, Baby," Lily reminded him.

"Yes, well, she was trying not to laugh," Sirius sniffed, throwing his robes onto the wrinkled pile of clothes in his trunk.

"How did you come up with that one?" she asked.

"Well, see, Padfoot here wanted to make sure that every girl possible at Hogwarts had seen him, if he had missed any-"

"Hush, it was your idea," Sirius grinned. "Every girl seeing me naked was just a perk for them."

"I did think I saw Gail drooling in your general direction, James," Lily giggled.

"Ug, don't remind me."

"Now!" Sirius said, sitting on his trunk to close it. "Where are our other two children?"

"Probably trying to forget what they saw this afternoon," James said.

"I'm going to go find them, so we can do something together, as our last night together. Wanna come, Prongs?"

"Actually," Lily cleared her throat. "If you don't mind, there was something I wanted to talk to James about..."

"Oh, yeah, no problem," Sirius nodded, smiling at them. "Right, Moony, Wormy, here I come!" He bounded out the door.

James and Lily laughed and James came to sit down next to Lily. "Something you wanted, Baby?"

"Yes," she put her hand on his chest and felt the groves underneath his robes. "I just...I wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you?" James grinned. "For what?"

"For being amazing," Lily sighed. "For just....everything."

"What brought this on?" James asked.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a very long time," Lily sighed. "And...James, I love you."

"Well, I love you too-"

"No," Lily put her hand on his mouth. "I really love you."

James blinked at her and gently removed her hand from his mouth. "Lily-"

"James, I don't know why I'm horrible to you, you don't even deserve me, but I love you, and...and I think its about time that I got over my dumb fears of my own body."

"What are you saying?" James asked, cautious.

"I'm saying...." she took a deep breath. "I'm saying that I want you to make love to me. Tonight."

James blinked at her, not sure what he was hearing. "You want me to what?"

"I want you to make love to me, James," Lily said, shakily. How come it didn't come out more sure the second time?

"Lily, I don't need you to-" She kissed him to quiet him.

"You aren't. This is my choice. My decision. I'm ready." Somehow, the words just didn't seem the same in her head, but she gave him her word. Here went nothing....

***

"James...James!...JAMES!"

"What is it?" James asked, stopping.

"It's....it's not working..." she admitted, blushing.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not...when we do the...I have a...and it's not happening."

"Well probably because you won't let me kiss you anywhere!" James muttered, unhappily, sitting up. "�No, don't touch me there!' �No! Don't kiss me there!' I can't get you there unless you let me. You won't even take off your shirt."

"Well, it's not as if it's any easier for me!" she exclaimed.

"I just don't see why, Lily," James sighed. "But if you still aren't ready...we'll stop."

She looked at him and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She felt so bad; he was so good to her and she was so horrible to him. She wanted to be the girl he wanted, but she felt so...Tears began running down her face.

"Don't cry, Lily," James soothed. "It's fine, we can wait longer."

"Why are you so good to me and I'm so shitty to you?"

"This isn't a big deal," James told her. She snorted, knowing full well that he had been aching to make love to her for years. "Ok, maybe it is a little."

She looked up at him and sniffed. "I'm sorry I'm such a prude."

"You aren't a prude," he kissed her cheek.

"Do you mind?" Lily asked.

"No," James sighed, sitting back.

"How about I give you a massage instead, hm?" she asked, helpfully.

James blinked at her. "You mean we've been dating for eleven months and I've never gotten a massage before?"

"You never asked."

"You never offered."

"Come over here then," she grinned, pulling on some boxers and throwing James his. He put them on, unhappily and sat down in front of Lily. She kissed his bare back, and put her hands on top of his shoulders.

He closed his eyes and let out a moan when she started. Though she didn't look like it, she obviously had very powerful hands, as the knots in his back were worked out slowly. He found himself leaning into her movements, letting out groans and sighs when she hit sore spots.

"You're tense," she said, in a sultry sort of voice. "Relax."

"Oi...I am relaxing," he sighed, stretching when she presses her thumbs lower on his back. "You're really good at this." "

I could do it a lot better if you were laying down," she muttered. James complied almost immediately and lay face-down in front of her. Lily climbed on top of him and sat on his butt, leaning over to give attention to his shoulders.

"Baby, that feels really good," he muffled into the bed in front of him. Lily used her knuckles next, causing him to moan low in his chest. He chuckled and turned his head to the side. "I want a massage every day for the next year."

"What makes you think you deserve one," Lily asked, bending down to kiss his shoulder blades.

"James!" he cried, using a high-pitched voice to mimic hers. "James I love you! I really love you!"

"I don't sound like that..." she muttered, trailing kisses up from his back to his neck, her body running the length of him. Her arms slid to rest beside his and her body pressed against his back.

"No, you sound much better," he said, turning his head. "What happened to my massage?"

"Isn't your back enough?"

"My hand is awful cramped from writing lines today-"

She snorted beside him. "You had to write lines?"

"�I will not run naked through the halls.' I think McGonagall had them framed-"

"Poor baby," she said, taking his right hand in hers. "Turn over so I can massage your hands."

Shifting her, James rolled over so that she was laying on top of him. She sat up, straddling his hips and began rubbing her hands through his, to make them feel better. He closed his eyes and sighed, a grin on his face.

Lily kissed his hands and laid down on top of him, playing with his hair. James cocked his head to the side.

"So, tell me, why is it exactly why you aren't ready," he asked.

Lily looked down and felt a blush coming on. "I...I mean..."

"We've been intimate before, Lily," he put his hands on her lower back. "Extremely intimate."

"I know..it's just a very scary three letter word," Lily nuzzled her head under his. "And...before, I never let you...well...see anything."

"Yes, I know," he rolled his eyes. "Do you think you're ugly or something?"

"I dunno...maybe a little," Lily's face was flaming.

James sat up a bit. "Really?"

"I think I'm fat," Lily sat up too.

"You think you're fat?" James sputtered, smiling.

"How would you know, you've never seen me-"

"Can I see, then?" James asked, reaching up and touching her shirt. Lily blushed and lifted up her shirt to expose her stomach. She looked down and immediately put her shirt down, embarrassed.

"No," James shook his head, lifting up her shirt again. Indeed, she did not have the most perfect stomach, in fact, she had a little bit of pudge, but it was Lily and he loved all of her. Leaning forwards, he kissed the little patch of skin above her belly button and looked up at her.

"I don't see what you're so concerned about," James shook his head. "You're beautiful." He slowly pushed her onto her back, and ran his hands along her stomach. "Is this all?"

Lily, given a bit of strength by his admiration of one of her biggest flaws of her body(so she thought), cleared her throat. "My legs are too big, and my...my butt is ugly too."

James' head shot up. "Excuse me? Your bum is beautiful. I spent many a Herbology lesson gazing at it. And whenever you wear shorts..." he whistled. "You're bloody crazy if you think that your legs are anything less than perfect."

"James Potter!" Lily giggled. "You've been staring at me!"

"Of course I have," he slid his body up hers to kiss her gently. "When you've got something as beautiful as you on my arm, I ought to know my territory."

Lily glared at him. "You're being chauvinistic again."

"Oi, about that, what the hell did I say that caused you to be in such a fuss?" James asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Lily sat up a bit. "How about how I would just come back to you whenever I was done with my temper tantrum."

"When did I say that?" James asked, cocking his head to the side. "I said that I knew you would come back because I had faith in you, and in what we have. And because I love you."

Lily blinked. "Oh...well...must have caught the tail-end of that conversation..."

"Apparently."

"Forgive me?" Lily asked.

"Forgiven," James smiled putting his chin on her exposed stomach. "Bloody fat...you're crazy, woman."

"I'm sorry if I sit and compare myself to Emmeline, the bloody stick."

James snorted. "I like my girl with a bit of meat on her," he bit the pudge of her stomach lovingly. "Sides, Emmeline's got no tits."

"And I suppose you've been looking?" Lily played with his hair.

"As my dad told me, a handful is just enough," James smirked. "Or a mouthful."

"James!" Lily exclaimed, mortified.

"What? Not as if we haven't tested that one before-"

"You hush your mouth, pervert," Lily bopped him lightly on the head.

"Can't help it if you bring out the best in me-"

"Best, yeah right," she smirked at him, then she looked down at her own breasts. "So...you really don't think they're that small?"

"Would it matter if they were?" he asked, looking at her as he lifted up her shirt more to expose her bra. "I like them just the way they are."

"I'm sure you do," Lily smiled.

"Just as I like you the way you are," James said, moving up to kiss her. She closed her eyes and moved her head into the kiss. Even after however millions of times he kissed her, it still gave her that funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her hand lazily came up to tangle in his hair as he turned his head to gain better access at her lips.

"James..." Lily sighed, breaking apart from him. "Will you help me?"

"With what?"

She slowly unhooked her bra and let it fall to the ground. A slow grin came across James' face and he nodded slowly, kissing her cheek.

***

"Prongs!" Sirius rapped on his curtains. It was nearly 9:30 and there had been no movement from the Prongs-side of the room. "Oi, Buddy, time to get up."

The edge of the curtain slipped open, giving him privy to the quiet conversation inside.

"James, we have to get up. Didn't you get enough last night?"

"Please?"

"You're impossible. You need to get up and finish packing."

"Flick of the wand, Baby."

"Where are my pants?"

"Wait a minute, those are my Snitch boxers!"

"No, Darling, they're mine."

"Y-You bought Snitch boxers like mine?"

"No, they're yours, I stole them from you before Christmas."

"My Arrow's shirt! Where on Earth has that been?"

"In my trunk."

"W...?"

"I wear it to go to bed."

"Only one question...do you wear anything under them?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh, Baby, once more, please?"

"No!" With that, Lily opened up the curtains, hair in tangles and wearing James' Arrows shirt and Snitch boxers. She blinked at Sirius who was smirking.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Since you told him that you gave him enough last night," he grinned. "�Bout time, too. I was thinking that he was about to go blind-oooof!"

"That's my boyfriend you're talking about," she glared, removing her fist from his stomach. "Watch it."

"Yes, ma'am," Sirius coughed.

"One more kiss?" James asked, sitting presumably naked under his sheets. She turned around and leaned over, giving him closer to a snog before Sirius pulled her off of him, by the hem of her shirt.

"Let the man have a break, Lily," he grunted.

"Fine, see you on the train," she gave James another coy look and walked to the door. James peered out from his bed, a big goofy grin on his face.

"Well? How was it?"

"...wow," James laughed. "You should honestly abstain for a long time and then get some. It feels...bloody amazing."

"Uh, you have more willpower than I do," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Hurry up and pack before Moony has an aneurism."

"Right, right," he sighed. "I don't know where my clothes are, can you throw me some clean robes?"

"I hope this means you aren't going to be grinning like an idiot for the rest of the summer?"

"What does it matter to you, you're moving out."

"But I'm still going to be with you every waking moment."

"Then I suggest you get used to it, mate."

27. Happy Together

I can't see me loving nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me
Baby the skies will be blue
For all my life
-Happy Together, The Turtles
Epilogue

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, walking cautiously in front of James, blindfolded. The hot July air was making her sweat slightly, as was the anticipation of what surprise James had fabricated for their one-year anniversary. Beside her, she could hear Sirius breathing lightly, and Remus on her other side. Pete was either behind James or not there at all.

After they had left school, Lily had moved into Sirius' old room (as he had moved to a flat nearby). James' parents had been very adamant about her living with them, as she had no family to speak of to live with anymore. Mrs. Potter was tickled to finally have a daughter to pamper and go shopping with, and Lily was usually always available to go to a robe expedition to Gladrags.

"James?" Lily grinned, knowing it was him by the feel of his hands on her hips, the exact pressure that she had grown to know like the back of her hand.

"Almost there," James said. "Stairs ahead."

Lily nearly tripped when she ran into the bottom step. It was rock, she could tell, and she climbed until the stairs ended, about five or six steps.

"Door," James said, and she felt a gust of wind coming from some sort of air conditioning. "More stairs," he said behind her. Lily began to climb, and soon noticed that there were a great deal more stairs to climb.

"Are we there yet?"

"Nope," James said, cheekily.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to Apparate?"

"Easier, but no surprise."

"Stop complaining, Lily," came Sirius' gruff voice from beside them. "James went through a-"

"Hush!" James shut him up.

Lily smiled, but said nothing else.

"We're here," James said, stopping her. She heard a door squeaking open and bit her lip in anticipation.

"Can I see yet?"

"Yeah, happy anniversary," James undid her blindfold and it fell off her eyes. She blinked for a minute, in the half-dark, half-lit hallway. She took a few steps forward and looked inside. He had taken her to a dingy apartment with no furniture or any sort of indication that anyone lived here. She looked around, confused.

"What...?"

James came into the room and smiled complacently. "Like it?"

"I....oh God..." she said, realizing what he was implying. He had bought her a flat. "How did you...This is ours?" she breathed.

He nodded. "Well, we're leasing it at least. The first couple payments have already been paid, a few from me, a few from my parents, one from the guys. We've got about a year paid off as it is."

"James," she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "I love it. I absolutely love it."

"Well, it's not much," James rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't care," Lily walked over to him and hugged him. "Thank you, thank you so much."

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she kissed him. "Thank you, so much."

"Oi, are you two going to have sex right here or are you going to show her around?" Sirius grunted. Remus elbowed him in the stomach, roughly.

"No tact," he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry," Lily grinned from over James' shoulder. "Show me around, then?"

"Of course," he reached down and took her hand, leading her into the barren kitchen. "The kitchen, we'll have to go buy some appliances-"

"I'll take care of that," Lily smiled. "After all, a little ring isn't...well, it's nothing compared to this-"

James looked down at the silver ring adorning his right index finger. Inscribed on the inside was their names and the date of their anniversary. He looked up at her and shook his head.

"I love my ring, it's amazing," he assured her. "This is the living room/dining room/family room/eating room," he explained, coming into the main room again. Taking her towards a door, he brought her inside the one bedroom, with a bathroom.

"We'll need a bed, so I think we'll have to stay at my folks until-"

"Who needs a bed?" Lily winked at him. James raised his eyebrows and Lily leaned up to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeper, his hands sliding up to play with the warm, soft skin just under her shirt. Her body had, in no time at all, become his territory and he knew pretty much every inch of it by heart. And he was most pleased to say that she knew his entire body by heart as well.

"Hey!" Sirius barked, breaking them up. "No shagging until you show her the best part!"

"What's the best part?" Lily asked, putting her head under James' chin. Sirius bounded forward and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the bedroom into the main room. He led her to a door that she hadn't noticed before, and she vaguely wondered if there was more to this flat.

To her slight horror, the door opened to reveal the living room of Sirius' flat.

"See!" he exclaimed gleefully. "We're neighbors!"

"Joy..." Lily threw a nasty look back to James and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, look at the bright side, you have a live in babysitter whenever you start popping out kids," Sirius said, thoughtfully.

"We are not going to start �popping' out kids!" Lily flushed.

"Right, right, whatever," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come along Moony and let's leave these two lovebirds to their little nest..."

After they had left, James approached Lily cautiously. "You don't like it, do you?"

To his surprise, Lily flashed him a smile. "No, James, I absolutely adore it. It....it couldn't be more perfect..."

"Really?"

She lifted herself up onto her toes and kissed him. "Really."

"So you don't mind Sirius being on the other side of the door?" he asked.

"As long as there is a strong Silencing charm on both of our flats, I don't think that I'll mind one bit..."

"Really?" James asked, sliding his hands around her waist. "And why would we need one of those?"

"Well, we do need our privacy..."

"My dear, that's what the bedroom is for," and with that, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, slamming the door with his foot.